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PAPERS: Sokratis Dinos, Scott Stevens, Marc Serfaty, Scott Weich, and Michael King Stigma: the feelings and experiences of 46 people with mental illness: Qualitative study The British Journal of Psychiatry 2004; 184: 176-181 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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Reducing stigma in Psychiatry

Sudhir Kumar   (1 February 2004)

Stigma: a triad!

Dr.Naseem A. qureshi   (10 February 2004)

Reducing stigma in Psychiatry 1 February 2004
Sudhir Kumar, Consultant Neurologist Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India-632004 Send letter to journal: Re: Reducing stigma in Psychiatry sk{at}cmcvellore.ac.in Sudhir Kumar	Dear Editor, I read with interest the recent article by Dinos et al (2004), where they report their findings on the magnitude of stigma perceived and experienced by a group of patients with mental illness. I would like to make certain observations that could be useful in reducing this stigma. Firstly, psychiatrists and other physicians themselves need to do their best to reduce stigma to patients. Concerns have been raised about the role played by psychiatrists in promoting stigma (Chaplin, 2000). This may be partly related to attitudes formed during initial medical training. It has been found that medical students showed greater regard for patients with major depression after a psychiatry clerkship, and students who rotated through an addiction treatment program showed a greater increase in regard for patients with alcoholism than did students not exposed to addiction treatment (Christison et al, 2002). Therefore, provisions should be made to adequately expose medical students to these conditions. Secondly, the department name as “Department of Psychiatry” may be associated with feelings of stigma among patients. An increase in the number of new outpatients resulted with a change of name to “Mental Clinic” in Japan (Hirosawa M, 2002). Moreover, the departments of Psychiatry are located away from the main hospital complex in many places. In our hospital, a psychiatrist’s consultation can be obtained in both the scenarios- “Mental health center” situated away from the main hospital and the “Psychiatry department” situated in the main hospital complex. Patients feel less stigmatized using the second facility. Therefore, it would definitely help reduce stigma if psychiatric services are located in a common building along with other departments. Patients with mental illness would then view their illnesses as any other systemic illness. Finally, educating public about the fact that mental illnesses are actually related to abnormalities in the brain would also be helpful. References Chaplin R (2000). Psychiatrists can cause stigma too. Br J Psychiatry; 177:467. Christison GW, Haviland MG, Riggs ML (2002). The medical condition regard scale: measuring reactions to diagnoses. Acad Med.;77:257-62. Dinos S, Stevens S, Serfaty M, Weich S, King M (2004). Stigma: the feelings and experiences of 46 people with mental illness: Qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry; 184: 176-181 Hirosawa M, Shimada H, Fumimoto H, Ito K, Arai H (2002). Response of Japanese patients to the change of department name for the psychiatric outpatient clinic in a university hospital. Gen Hosp Psychiarty. 24: 269- 74
Stigma: a triad! 10 February 2004
Dr.Naseem A. qureshi, Medical Director(A),& Director CME&R Buraidah mental Health Hospital, Saudi Arabia Send letter to journal: Re: Stigma: a triad! qureshinaseem{at}hotmail.com Dr.Naseem A. qureshi	I am delighted to read an article by Dinos and colleagues [2004] about stigma against patients with mental illness. This qualitative, comprehensive study highlights the deep and genuine experiences of patients with severe mental disorders. Moreover, it explores only one of the components of stigma, which, according to my introspection also consists of other two components including mental health professionals and public at large. Each component plays an important role in sustaining and perpetuating stigma against mental disorders. Furthermore, reportedly mental patients are stigmatized and so mental health professionals. Likewise, a family with an individual with mental disorder is also looked down upon by people with no mental disorders. Globally, there is a converging evidence that stigma has multiple, diverse adverse implications, which include diagnostic labeling, treatment and compliance, outcome and disabilities, and finally economic. The stigma against mental patients, mental disorders, mental hospitals, and mental health professionals can be reduced considerably by addressing the three integrated and interrelated components of stigma. Education is the best tool for this purpose. Continuing psychiatric education and psychiatric programs directed towards changing negative attitudes of all involved-patients,mental health professionals, and public may reduce stigma against mental patients globally. Declaration of interest:none Reference Sokratis Dinos, Scott Stevens, Marc Serfaty, Scott Weich, and Michael King. Stigma: the feelings and experiences of 46 people with mental illness: Qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry 2004; 184: 176-181 Address:POBox.2292, Buraidah mental Health Hosp, KSA FAx.+96663853010