The comparison of internalized stigmatization levels of patients with different mental disorders

ABSTRACT

Background: Individuals with mental disorders turn to self-stigmatization in the face of stigmatization at the hands of society, and the process is internalized. Internalized stigmatization, which occurs when an individual accepts the negative stereotypes directed at him by society and, as a result, results in his withdrawal from society with negative emotions, worsens the symptoms of illness, delays recovery, and causes harm to patients.

Purpose: This study was conducted to compare the internalized stigmatization levels of patients with different mental disorders.

Methods: The study includes 217 patients who have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective Disorder (n:46), Substance Use Disorder (n:44), Bipolar Disorder (n: 63), Major Depression (n: 40) or any Anxiety Disorders (n: 24). The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) Scale was used to collect the data.

Results: The ISMI scale total score of patients was 2.59 ± 0.33. When stigmatization levels were compared by different disorders, individuals with substance use disorders suffered the highest levels of stigmatization followed by Depression, Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective disorder, Bipolar disorder and Anxiety disorder (p < .05).

Conclusions: All patients had high levels of internalized stigmatization. Individuals with substance use disorders suffered the highest levels of stigmatization. Mental health professionals should use different interventions to combat and reduce self-stigmatization among populations with different psychiatric diagnoses.

KEYWORDS:

• Internalized stigmatization
• mental disorder
• psychiatric nursing
• self- stigma

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the Scientific Research Commit-tee of the Ministry of Health in Jordan. In addition, a consent form was obtained from every participant.

The family caregivers of patients with mental disorders may internalize the public stereotypes into the affiliate stigma (i.e., the self-stigma of family members). Caregivers of a family member with mental disorders tend to have a high level of affiliate stigma. The affiliate stigma of caregivers is associated with their self-esteem, caregiver burden, and by the diagnosis (Chang, Yen, Jang, Su, & Lin, 2017). Therefore, interventions to reduce self-stigma should be included for families. It is recommended that future studies investigate the families’ self- stigma perceptions and related variables.

Limitations of the study

The limitation of the study is that all mental disorders could not be included in the study. Also, due to the small sample size, the results of the study can be generalized for all patients participating in this study.

Disclosure of potential conflict of interest

There are no actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received to conduct the study.