scholarly journals Psychiatric Stigma in Developing Societies

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 01-05
Author(s):  
Saeed Shafti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Psychiatric Rehabilitation ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
National Goal ◽  
Developing Societies

Stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with mental syndromes are prevalent in the general population and even among mental health professionals, a problem that may result easily in public avoidance, constant discrimination, and declined help-seeking behavior. The effect of stigma is twofold: Public stigma is the response that the public has to people with mental disorder. Self-stigma is the bigotry which persons with mental disorder turn against themselves. The WHO has advised that stigma is one of the largest barricades to treatment engagement, even if management is operative, even in low-income nations. While before and according to a series of researches the outcome of severe mental illness is generally better in developing societies than in developed countries, and it has been suggested that stigma is less severe or non-existent in unindustrialized nations, the current studies and observations do not confirm such an optimistic hint and the idea that stigma attached to mental illness is a global phenomenon seems a reasonable inference. In the present article, the issue of stigmatization, deinstitutionalization, national goal setting, and real situation of various modules of psychiatric rehabilitation, in the context of social or public psychiatry, especially in developing countries, is discussed, from a practical point of view.

scholarly journals Association between recognition and help-seeking preferences and stigma towards people with mental illness

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Picco ◽  
E. Abdin ◽  
S. Pang ◽  
J. A. Vaingankar ◽  
A. Jeyagurunathan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Perceived Stigma ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
The Relationship

Aims.The ability to recognise a mental illness has important implications as it can aid in timely and appropriate help-seeking, and ultimately improve outcomes for people with mental illness. This study aims to explore the association between recognition and help-seeking preferences and stigmatising attitudes, for alcohol abuse, dementia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia, using a vignette-based approach.Methods.This was a population-based, cross-sectional survey conducted among Singapore Residents (n = 3006) aged 18–65 years. All respondents were asked what they think is wrong with the person in the vignette and who they should seek help from. Respondents were also administered the Personal and Perceived sub scales of the Depression Stigma Scale and the Social Distance Scale. Weighted frequencies and percentages were calculated for categorical variables. A series of multiple logistic and linear regression models were performed separately by vignette to generate odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the relationship between help-seeking preference, and recognition and beta coefficients and 95% confidence intervals for the relationship between stigma and recognition.Results.Correct recognition was associated with less preference to seek help from family and friends for depression and schizophrenia. Recognition was also associated with increased odds of endorsing seeking help from a psychiatric hospital for dementia, depression and schizophrenia, while there was also an increased preference to seek help from a psychologist and psychiatrist for depression. Recognition was associated with less personal and perceived stigma for OCD and less personal stigma for schizophrenia, however, increased odds of social distancing for dementia.Conclusion.The ability to correctly recognise a mental illness was associated with less preference to seek help from informal sources, whilst increased preference to seek help from mental health professionals and services and less personal and perceived stigma. These findings re-emphasise the need to improve mental health literacy and reinforce the potential benefits recognition can have to individuals and the wider community in Singapore.

scholarly journals Attitudinal and demographic factors associated with seeking help and receiving antidepressant medication for symptoms of common mental disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena A. Manescu ◽  
Emily J. Robinson ◽  
Claire Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Problem ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Common Mental Disorder ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Background Despite the increased attention given to improvement of mental health-related knowledge and attitudes, rates of help-seeking for mental illness remain low even in countries with well-developed mental health services. This study examines the relationships between attitudes to mental illness, symptoms of common mental disorder and seeking-help and receiving medication for a mental health problem. Methods We used data from the nationally representative Health Survey for England 2014 to design three logistic regression models to test for the effects of attitudes to mental illness (measured by a shortened version of the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill, CAMI scale) on: recent contact with a doctor for a mental health problem; use of any type of mental health service in the last 12 months; and having antidepressants currently prescribed, while controlling for symptoms of common mental disorder (measured by the General Health Questionnaire, GHQ). We also tested for an interaction between attitudes to mental illness and symptoms of common mental disorder on the outcomes. Results A significant but very small effect of CAMI score was found on ‘antidepressants currently prescribed’ model (OR = 1.01(1.00, 1.02) but not on the two indicators of help-seeking. We also found a significant but very small interaction between CAMI and GHQ scores on recent contact with a doctor (OR = 0.99, 95% CI (0.990, 0.998); adjusted Wald test P = 0.01)). Knowing someone with a mental illness had a significant positive effect on help-seeking indicated by: (a) recent contact with a doctor (2.65 (1.01, 6.98)) and (b) currently prescribed antidepressant (2.67 (1.9, 3.75)) after controlling for attitudes to mental illness. Conclusions Our results suggest that knowing someone with a mental health problem seems to have a further positive effect on help-seeking, beyond improving attitudes to mental illness. Furthermore, multiple different types and aspects of stigma may contribute to help-seeking behaviours, consequently multi-faceted approaches are likely to be most efficient.

Dentistry students’ views about mental illness and impact of a targeted seminar on knowledge and attitudes: a mixed-method study

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 190-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Patterson ◽  
Pauline Ford
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Dental Students ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to inform education of non-mental health professionals who provide care to people with severe mental illness; to describe dentistry students’ knowledge and views about mental illness, including willingness to engage in various social situations with a person hospitalised for mental illness; and to assess and understand the impact of a targeted lecture on views and attitudes. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employed mixed methods to examine dental students’ knowledge and views about mental disorder before and after a seminar covering mental disorder, disadvantage and oral health. Findings from a bespoke questionnaire administered to third-year dental students were triangulated with qualitative data gathered in interviews with a subsample. Findings – Students understood mental disorder broadly, employing diverse causal models. Although knowledge was typically grounded in media stereotypes, attitudes were benevolent and most students reported willingness to provide dental care to affected individuals. The seminar, especially the consumer delivered section, was valued and associated with increased appreciation of the impact of mental disorder on oral health and need for assertive action to promote access to care. However, students reported being reluctant to disclose their own mental health problems for fear of being considered a professional or personal failure. A minority knew how to seek support if a friend talked of suicide. Research limitations/implications – This study highlights the need for further investigation of the knowledge and attitudes of dentistry students pertinent to provision of care to people with mental illness and to examine the links between attitudes and practice. The paper also provides a useful foundation for development of brief educational interventions, particularly the value in integrating the service user perspective, and their evaluation. Research should also examine the impact of mental health education on practice. Practical implications – A single inexpensive educational session, such as the one the paper developed may support reconsideration of often unconscious views of mental illness which might affect practice. Social implications – If people with mental illness are to receive equitable access to health care, non-mental health professionals should be supported to develop knowledge and attitudes which are conducive to inclusive treatment. An education session such as this could be helpful. Originality/value – There is scant literature examining attitudes of dentistry students and no reports of mental health-specific education with this population.

scholarly journals Attitudinal and demographic factors associated with seeking help and receiving antidepressant medication for symptoms of common mental disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Andreea Manescu ◽  
Emily J. Robinson ◽  
Claire Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Problem ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Common Mental Disorder ◽  
General Health Questionnaire ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Background: Despite the increased attention given to improvement of mental health-related knowledge and attitudes, rates of help-seeking for mental illness remain low even in countries with well-developed mental health services. This study examines the relationships between attitudes to mental illness, symptoms of common mental disorder and seeking-help and receiving medication for a mental health problem. Methods: We used data from the nationally representative Health Survey for England 2014 to design three logistic regression models to test for the effects of attitudes to mental illness (measured by a shortened version of the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill, CAMI scale) on: recent contact with a doctor for a mental health problem; use of any type of mental health service in the last 12 months; and having antidepressants currently prescribed, while controlling for symptoms of common mental disorder (measured by the General Health Questionnaire, GHQ). We also tested for an interaction between attitudes to mental illness and symptoms of common mental disorder on the outcomes. Results: A significant but very small effect of CAMI score was found on ‘antidepressants currently prescribed’ model (OR=1.01(1.00, 1.02) but not on the two indicators of help-seeking. We also found a significant but very small interaction between CAMI and GHQ scores on recent contact with a doctor (OR= 0.99, 95% CI (0.990, 0.998); adjusted Wald test P=0.01)). Knowing someone with a mental illness had a significant positive effect on help-seeking indicated by: (a) recent contact with a doctor (2.65 (1.01, 6.98)) and (b) currently prescribed antidepressant (2.67 (1.9, 3.75)) after controlling for attitudes to mental illness. Conclusions: Our results suggest that knowing someone with a mental health problem seems to have a further positive effect on help-seeking, beyond improving attitudes to mental illness. Furthermore, multiple different types and aspects of stigma may contribute to help-seeking behaviours, consequently multi-faceted approaches are likely to be most efficient.

Global Burden of Mental Disorders

2017 ◽  
pp. 164-186
Author(s):  
Meghamala S. Tavaragi ◽  
Sushma C.
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Increase Risk

Mental disorders are an important cause of long-term disability and dependency. It accounts for over 15% of the disease burden in developed countries, which is more than the disease burden caused by all cancers. Mental illness is a leading cause of suffering, economic loss and social problems. The burden of mental disorders is likely to have been underestimated because of inadequate appreciation of the connectedness between mental illness and other health conditions. Mental disorders increase risk for communicable and non-communicable diseases, and contribute to unintentional and intentional injury, and comorbidity complicates help-seeking, diagnosis, and treatment, and influences prognosis. Consequently, health professionals have trivialized the issue of mental illness. It is essential that researchers and public health professionals work together to resolve the enormous public health crisis presented by mental disorders. In short, we must “mainstream” mental health.

Social workers’ experiences of integrated case management for low-income individuals with mental illness in South Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
Sunju Sohn ◽  
Soo Mi Jang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Case Management ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Current Level ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Functional Organisation ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations ◽  
Integrated Case Management

Using a mixed methodology, the current level of integrated case management in South Korea was examined by exploring barriers to successful cooperation among agencies and quantifying networking activities in assisting low-income individuals with mental illness. Findings indicate the following: (1) struggling with limited resources while unrealistic expectations are imposed on mental health professionals, (2) poor collaboration and (3) the need for a functional organisation that plays a centralised role for a stronger and efficient integrated case management system. The results suggest the need to adopt a workable paradigm founded on a unified system within communities and a ‘sharing’ atmosphere.

Constructing Mental Illness as Dangerous: A Pilot Study

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Wilson ◽  
Raymond Nairn ◽  
John Coverdale ◽  
Aroha Panapa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Prime Time ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Television Production ◽  
Sound Effects ◽  
Stigma Of Mental Illness ◽  
Cutting Point

Objective: There is a dearth of studies examining how dangerousness is constructed in media depictions of mentally ill individuals who are frequently portrayed as acting violently. The aim of the present study was to identify the contribution of diverse technical, semiotic and discursive resources utilised in portraying a character with a mental illness in a prime-time drama as dangerous. Method: Discourse analytic techniques, involving systematic, repeated, critical viewings, were applied to a single program drawn from a sample of prime-time television drama episodes touching on mental illness. Results: Nine devices (appearance, music and sound effects, lighting, language, intercutting, jump-cutting, point of view shots, horror conventions and intertextuality) were identified as contributing to the signified dangerousness of person receiving care in the community for a mental illness. Conclusions: These techniques combine in signifying mental illness and a person suffering from it as dangerous. The findings suggest that mental health professionals working to reduce the stigma of mental illness need to have a reasonably sophisticated understanding of the practices and priorities of television production if they are to collaborate effectively with producers to create dramas that convey more human and sympathetic understandings of mental illness or to combat the negative effects of such portrayals.

scholarly journals Stigma and discrimination limit access to mental health care

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Thornicroft
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Stigma And Discrimination ◽  
Epidemiological Surveys

AbstractThis editorial provides an overview of how far access to mental health care is limited by perceptions of stigma and anticipated discrimination. Globally over 70% of young people and adults with mental illness receive no treatment from healthcare staff. The rates of non-treatment are far higher in low income countries. Evidence from some descriptive studies and epidemiological surveys suggest that potent factors increasing the likelihood of treatment avoidance, or long delays before presenting for care include: (i) lack of knowledge about the features and treatability of mental illnesses; (ii) ignorance about how to access assessment and treatment; (iii) prejudice against people who have mental illness, and (iv) expectations of discrimination against people who have a diagnosis of mental illness. The associations between low rates of help seeking, and stigma and discrimination are as yet poorly understood and require more careful characterisation and analysis, providing the platform for more effective action to ensure that a greater proportion of people with mental illness are effectively treated in future.

Predicting Intentions to Seek Help from Professional Mental Health Services

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordana K. Bayer ◽  
Marilyn Y. Peay
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Professional Mental Health ◽  
Seeking Help

Objective: This study investigates the factors related to the intention to seek professional help for psychological problems utilising Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action [1,2]. Many of the variables identified in previous studies can be subsumed within this theory, which emphasises the importance of the subjective point of view of the individual. Method: One hundred and forty-two patients waiting for consultations at a community based general practice completed a questionnaire designed to assess the components of this theory as they relate to seeking help from mental health professionals. Results: The results of this study supported the prediction of the intention to seek help from a mental health professional from the variables ‘attitude toward the behaviour’ and ‘subjective norm’. However, personal attitudes toward seeking help were found to be more important than the approval or disapproval of significant others in predicting help-seeking intentions. Conclusions: Overall, the findings indicate that a significant factor influencing people's decisions to utilise professional mental health services in Australia may be the belief that mental health professionals are not actually able to provide a great deal of help or support for people's difficulties.

scholarly journals Development of innovation policy: case study of north and West African countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 07001
Author(s):  
Leandre Yedehou Dossou ◽  
Itri Hanaa
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Verification Algorithm ◽  
North African Countries

Since the work on Joseph Schumpeter’s entrepreneurial theory in the process of creative destruction, many works have been devoted to innovation. However, this previous work often approached innovation from an organizational point of view with a technical orientation. But today innovation covers all sectors of economic activity or not. In addition, we can see that this research on innovation has been more active and implemented in developed countries. On the other hand, some work; have been done in developing country, which shows a low level of innovation development. Therefore, to fill the gap in African literature, the purpose of this article is timely to develop a model of innovation policy for low-income countries in general, and for West and North African countries in particular. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to make the diagnosis at the level of African countries in terms of innovation, in order to solve problems related to the challenges of innovation on this continent. Finally, relevant recommendations ranging from the meaning of an effective implementation of the proposed innovation policy through a mechanism and a verification algorithm for a positive economic and social impact.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document