The stigma of psychosis is one of the big challenges because this is the area of taboo. Japanese culture has a strong concept of shame, which makes stigmatisation an even bigger problem than it is elsewhere. It also makes situation harder to study. Self-stigma is closely tied with culture and social dynamics. Self-stigmatisation of patients is connected with the stigma and self-stigma of their family. This is also connected with stigma in community. They all are linked to each other to form a culture of stigmatisation. It is easy to understand negativity and pessimism about the project to increase nursing staff who support stigmatised people to overcome self-stigma. Many nursing professionals feel powerless against stigma of mental illness with the idea that this culture can be changed. The current project arose from Komatsu’s observation of patients’ attitudes to stigmatisation, interviews with the patients as well as feedback and reports from nurses treating them.
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