scholarly journals Stigma Attitudes Towards People with Mental Illness among Professionals Working in a Psychiatric Hospital

Author(s):  
Mariana Silva ◽  
Sandra Nascimento ◽  
Tiago Pereira ◽  
Beatriz Lourenço ◽  
Miguel Nascimento ◽  
...  

Introduction: Mental illness stigma studies demonstrate the presence of stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness both by the public and health professionals. This study aimed to analyze the attitudes of professionals working at a Portuguese psychiatric hospital towards people with mental illness. Material and Methods: A cross‑sectional observational study was conducted to examine the attitudes of professionals through application of Mental Illness Clinician Attitude Scale (MICA) and collection of sociodemographic data. Results: Scores of MICA questionnaire were significantly lower than the cut‑off point for negative attitude in general and across professional categories suggesting that overall professionals seem to manifest a positive attitude towards people with mental illness. There was a trend of decrease in MICA scores throughout increasing years of professional experience although not statistically significant. Conclusion: Our results do not contradict the need to continue fighting stigma, but instead to better evaluate how these attitudes translate into practice, by including behavioral outcomes in future research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-406
Author(s):  
Codruta Alina Popescu ◽  
Anca Dana Buzoianu ◽  
Soimita Mihaela Suciu ◽  
Sebastian Mihai Armean

Background. Stigmatizing attitudes to mental illness, and especially schizophrenia, are not limited to the general population but are also common among health professionals. Health professionals are in a position to model health related attitudes both in the general public and patients. Medical students are an interesting group to focus upon, since they are future health professionals and correcting stigmatizing attitudes is still possible during their educational curriculum.Methods. This study investigated the attitude toward mental illness in medical students at the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy. We surveyed first year students, since they have not yet received specific classes or internships in psychiatry; 322 students from the Romanian and English sections participated, representing a response rate of 94.7%. The questionnaire consisted of the Romanian and English versions of Link's Social Distance Scale towards people with mental illness scale.Results. Overall, medical students had a relatively negative attitude towards people with mental illness, with moderate social distance and stereotypical attitudes. The level of personal contact with people with mental illness was correlated with positive attitudes. International students had scored lower then Romanian students on social distance toward mentally ill patients.Conclusions. Medical education can play an important role in the attitudes of students toward mental illness. Medical students have stigmatizing attitudes about mentally ill patients. Personal contact with people suffering from mental illness might contribute to a positive attitude from the medical students toward mentally ill patients.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vijayalakshmi ◽  
D Reddy ◽  
S B Math ◽  
R Thimmaiah

<p><strong>Background.</strong> Mental illness is an important public health issue worldwide; stigmatisation and negative attitudes towards people with mental illness are widespread among the general public. However, little is known about the attitudes of undergraduates to mental illness. </p><p><strong>Purpose.</strong> To compare the attitudes towards mental illness among undergraduates enrolled in nursing courses v. those enrolled in Bachelor of Business Management (BBM) courses. </p><p><strong>Methods.</strong> A cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted for the present study. A total of 268 undergraduates were selected to complete the<em> </em>Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) and the Opinions about Mental Illness in the Chinese Community (OMICC) questionnaires. </p><p><span><strong>Results. </strong>We found significant differences between the number of nursing and BBM students who agreed with statements posed by the questionnaires, e.g., that they would move out of their community if a mental health facility was established there (χ<sup>2</sup>=16.503, <em>p</em>&lt;0.002), that they were not afraid of treated mentally ill people (χ<sup>2</sup>=15.279, <em>p</em>&lt;0.004), and that people with mental illness tend to be violent (χ<sup>2</sup>=14.215, <em>p</em>&lt;0.007) and dangerous (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.808, <em>p</em>&lt;0.001). Nursing students disagreed that people with mental illness are easily identified (χ<sup>2</sup>=30.094, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000), have a lower IQ (χ<sup>2</sup>=70.689, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000) and should not have children (χ<sup>2</sup>=24.531, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000). Nursing students were more benevolent than BBM students, as they agreed that people with mental illness can hold a job (χ<sup>2</sup>=49.992, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000) and can return to their former position (χ<sup>2</sup>=11.596, p&lt;0.021), that everyone faces the possibility of becoming mentally ill (χ<sup>2</sup>=38.726, <em>p</em>&lt;0.000), and that one should not laugh at the mentally ill (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.407, <em>p</em>&lt;0.002). Nursing students held less pessimistic attitudes, as they felt that the mentally ill should receive the same pay for the same job (χ<sup>2</sup>=10.669, <em>p</em>&lt;0.031) and that the public are prejudiced towards people with mental illness (χ<sup>2</sup>=17.604, <em>p</em>&lt;0.001).</span></p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> College students’ attitudes towards people with mental illness vary based on the course that they are enrolled in. Attitudes may be positively improved by revising curriculum design to incorporate educational sessions about mental illness. These are essential steps to combat discrimination, and potentially enhance the promotion of human rights for the mentally ill.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 86-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Agrest ◽  
Franco Mascayano ◽  
Sara Elena Ardila-Gómez ◽  
Ariel Abeldaño ◽  
Ruth Fernandez ◽  
...  

Studies regarding stigma towards mental illness in Argentina blossomed after the first National Mental Health Law was passed in 2010. Methodological limitations and contradictory results regarding community perceptions of stigma hinder comparisons across domestic and international contexts but some lessons may still be gleaned. We examine this research and derive recommendations for future research and actions to reduce stigma. These include tackling culture-specific aspects of stigma, increasing education of the general population, making more community-based services available and exposing mental health professionals to people with mental illness who are on community paths to recovery.


1970 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chukwuemeka Michael Ubaka ◽  
Chioma Mirrian Chikezie ◽  
Kosisochi Chinwendu Amorha ◽  
Chinwe Victoria Ukwe

BACKGROUND: Stigma affects the quality of life of the mentallyill, and health professionals are considered to be involved in possessing negative attitudes towards them. We evaluated the  prevalence of stigmatization among different health professionals in Nigerian hospitals.METHODS: This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative survey assessing attitudinal views of health professionals (doctors, pharmacists, and nurses) regarding mental illness in two hospitals in Eastern Nigeria. The survey utilized the 40-item Community Attitude to Mental Illness, CAMI-2 questionnaire. The prevalence and the factors that contribute to negative attitudes among this cohort were assessed. Statistical analysis using T-tests, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were conducted.RESULTS: Attitudes to all the four constructs of the CAMI-2 werenon-stigmatizing. Stigmatizing attitudes were significantly higheramong pharmacists, doctors and then nurses (p<0.006). Health professionals who did not have contact with the mentally ill (p<0.0001), who were males (p=0.008) and had lower years of working experience (p=0.031) expressed significantly higher stigmatizing attitudes towards the mentally ill.Conclusions: Nigerian health professionals were largely non-stigmatizingtowards the mentally ill. However, being a pharmacist, of male gender, and working in a non-psychiatric hospital were associated with stigmatizing attitudes when they exist.KEYWORDS: Mental illness; Stigma; Health Professionals;Survey


Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Aflakseir ◽  
Muhammad Rasooli Esini ◽  
Muhammad Goodarzi ◽  
Javad Molazadeh

Objective: Stigma has a significant impact on the life of individuals with mental illness. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of contact with the mentally ill with stigmatizing attitudes in a group of college students. Method: A total of 287 college students participated in this study. The participants were recruited from Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences using convenience sampling and completed the research measures including the Level of Familiarity (LOF) and the Attribution questionnaires (AQ). The data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The descriptive findings of this study showed that the participants’ highest score on stigmatizing attitudes was related to pity and the least score was related to anger towards people with mental illness. Furthermore, the regression analysis results indicated that personal contact, family contact, and work contact with individuals with mental illness significantly predicted stigma reduction, while other types of contacts with the mentally ill, such as friend contact, social contact, and media contact, did not significantly predict stigma reduction. Conclusion: This study highlighted the significant role of having contact with the mentally ill in reducing stigmatizing attitudes towards them.


2015 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 001-002
Author(s):  
Vijayalakshmi Poreddi ◽  
Rohini Thimmaiah ◽  
Suresh Bada Math

ABSTRACT Background: Globally, people with mental illness frequently encounter stigma, prejudice, and discrimination by public and health care professionals. Research related to medical students’f attitudes toward people with mental illness is limited from India. Aim: The aim was to assess and compare the attitudes toward people with mental illness among medical students’. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was carried out among medical students, who were exposed (n = 115) and not exposed (n = 61) to psychiatry training using self-reporting questionnaire. Results: Our findings showed improvement in students’ attitudes after exposure to psychiatry in benevolent (t = 2.510, P < 0.013) and stigmatization (t = 2.656, P < 0.009) domains. Further, gender, residence, and contact with mental illness were the factors that found to be influencing students’ attitudes toward mental illness. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that psychiatric education proved to be effective in changing the attitudes of medical students toward mental illness to a certain extent. However, there is an urgent need to review the current curriculum to prepare undergraduate medical students to provide holistic care to the people with mental health problems.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000-000
Author(s):  
Clara González-Sanguino ◽  
Sara González-Domínguez ◽  
Miguel A. Castellanos ◽  
Manuel Muñoz

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kim-Wan Young ◽  
Petrus Y. N. Ng ◽  
Jia-Yan Pan ◽  
Daphne Cheng

Purpose: This study aims to translate and test the reliability and validity of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness-Cantonese (ISMI-C). Methods: The original English version of ISMI is translated into the ISMI-C by going through forward and backward translation procedure. A cross-sectional research design is adopted that involved 295 participants randomly drawn from a population of Chinese consumers participated in different kinds of community-based mental health services. Results: Results show that the Cronbach’s α coefficient of the ISMI-C is .93. With regard to validity test, the ISMI-C shows significant and negative correlation with measures on self-esteem and quality of life. Also, an explorative factor analysis yields five factors that are consistent with previous research results. Discussion: This study shows that the ISMI-C is a reliable and valid measure. ISMI-C can facilitate the development of interventions in reducing self-stigma for people with mental illness across Chinese societies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 948-965
Author(s):  
Megan Woods ◽  
Rob Macklin ◽  
Sarah Dawkins ◽  
Angela Martin

Workplace conditions and experiences powerfully influence mental health and individuals experiencing mental illness, including the extent to which people experiencing mental ill-health are ‘disabled’ by their work environments. This article explains how examination of the social suffering experienced in workplaces by people with mental illness could enhance understanding of the inter-relationships between mental health and workplace conditions, including experiences and characteristics of the overarching labour process. It examines how workplace perceptions and narratives around mental illness act as discursive resources to influence the social realities of people with mental ill-health. It applies Labour Process Theory to highlight how such discursive resources could be used by workers and employers to influence the power, agency and control in workplace environments and the labour process, and the implications such attempts might have for social suffering. It concludes with an agenda for future research exploring these issues.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document