Stigma of Mental Illness-1: Clinical reflections

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Although the quality and effectiveness of mental health treatments and services have improved greatly over the past 50 years, therapeutic revolutions in psychiatry have not yet been able to reduce stigma. Stigma is a risk factor leading to negative mental health outcomes. It is responsible for treatment seeking delays and reduces the likelihood that a mentally ill patient will receive adequate care. It is evident that delay due to stigma can have devastating consequences. This review will discuss the causes and consequences of stigma related to mental illness.

Related collections

Most cited references 65

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Poverty and common mental disorders in developing countries.

Vikram Patel, Arthur Kleinman (2003)

A review of English-language journals published since 1990 and three global mental health reports identified 11 community studies on the association between poverty and common mental disorders in six low- and middle-income countries. Most studies showed an association between indicators of poverty and the risk of mental disorders, the most consistent association being with low levels of education. A review of articles exploring the mechanism of the relationship suggested weak evidence to support a specific association with income levels. Factors such as the experience of insecurity and hopelessness, rapid social change and the risks of violence and physical ill-health may explain the greater vulnerability of the poor to common mental disorders. The direct and indirect costs of mental ill-health worsen the economic condition, setting up a vicious cycle of poverty and mental disorder. Common mental disorders need to be placed alongside other diseases associated with poverty by policy-makers and donors. Programmes such as investment in education and provision of microcredit may have unanticipated benefits in reducing the risk of mental disorders. Secondary prevention must focus on strengthening the ability of primary care services to provide effective treatment.

0 comments Cited 187 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Perceived stigma as a predictor of treatment discontinuation in young and older outpatients with depression.

Leonidas G. Alexopoulos, J A Sirey, Peter A. Friedman … (2001)

The authors' goal was to examine the extent to which perceived stigma affected treatment discontinuation in young and older adults with major depression. A two-stage sampling design identified 92 new admissions of outpatients with major depression. Perceived stigma was assessed at admission. Discontinuation of treatment was recorded at 3-month follow-up. Although younger patients reported perceiving more stigma than older patients, stigma predicted treatment discontinuation only among the older patients. Patients' perceptions of stigma at the start of treatment influence their subsequent treatment behavior. Stigma is an appropriate target for intervention aimed at improving treatment adherence and outcomes.

0 comments Cited 128 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Stigma as a barrier to recovery: Perceived stigma and patient-rated severity of illness as predictors of antidepressant drug adherence.

J A Sirey, D Perlick, David Friedman … (2001)

Major depression is undertreated despite the availability of effective treatments. Psychological barriers to treatment, such as perceived stigma and minimization of the need for care, may be important obstacles to adherence to the pharmacologic treatment of major depression. The authors examined the impact of barriers that were present at the initiation of antidepressant drug therapy on medication adherence in a mixed-age sample of outpatients with major depression. A two-stage sampling design was used to identify adults with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, as determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnosis, who sought mental health treatment at outpatient clinics. Additional instruments were administered to 134 newly admitted adults who had been taking a prescribed antidepressant medication for at least a week to assess perceived stigma, self-rated severity of illness, and views about treatment. The patients were reinterviewed three months later and were classified as adherent or nonadherent on the basis of self-reported estimates of the number and frequency of missed doses. Medication adherence was associated with lower perceived stigma, higher self-rated severity of illness, age over 60 years, and absence of personality pathology. No other characteristics of treatment or illness were significantly related to medication adherence. Perceived stigma associated with mental illness and individuals' views about the illness play an important role in adherence to treatment for depression. Clinicians' attention to psychological barriers early in treatment may improve medication adherence and ultimately affect the course of illness.

0 comments Cited 110 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Mens Sana Monogr

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Mens Sana Monogr

Journal ID (publisher-id): MSM

Title: Mens Sana Monographs

Publisher: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )

ISSN (Print): 0973-1229

ISSN (Electronic): 1998-4014

Publication date (Print): Jan-Dec 2012

Volume: 10

Issue: 1

Pages: 70-84

Affiliations

[* ] The University of Western Ontario. Regional Mental health Care, 467, Sunset Drive, St.Thomas, Ontario, N6H3V9, Canada

[** ] Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada

[*** ] Lawson Health Research Institute, 268 Grosvenor Street, Room E5-136 London, Ontario, Canada N6A . 4V2, Assistant Professor (Psychology), The University of Western Ontario, Canada

Author notes

Address correspondence to: Dr. Amresh Shrivastava, The University of Western Ontario. Regional Mental health Care, 467, Sunset Drive, St.Thomas, Ontario, N6H3V9, Canada. E-mail: dr.amresh@ 123456gmail.com

Article

Publisher ID: MSM-10-70

DOI: 10.4103/0973-1229.90181

PMC ID: 3353607

PubMed ID: 22654383

SO-VID: ddf71854-ed92-4fb8-aaf2-527bb75c3992

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 11 August 2011

Date revision received : 22 November 2011

Date accepted : 23 November 2011

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 30

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 447

See all reference authors

Stigma of Mental Illness-1: Clinical reflections

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Nanoparticles to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB)

Most cited references 65

Poverty and common mental disorders in developing countries.

Perceived stigma as a predictor of treatment discontinuation in young and older outpatients with depression.

Stigma as a barrier to recovery: Perceived stigma and patient-rated severity of illness as predictors of antidepressant drug adherence.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 426

Cited by 30

Most referenced authors 447