A comparative survey between the levels of personal and perceived stigma among professionals working in the psychiatric care system

Abstract

Background: In Romania there are very few national studies of the stigma associated with depression1. The psychiatric health care system is mainly concentrated on psychiatric hospitals with few ambulatory services offering very limited services, approximately 80% of the psychiatric staff is working in the psychiatric hospital. Coming from a 45-year period during which the psychiatry was only biological the Romanian population has started to discover and use the psychotherapeutic services provided by psychologists, a profession that was forbidden for a 20- year period during the communist time. This study seeks to compare the nature and extent of stigma among the professionals working in the psychiatric care system namely psychiatric hospital. Methods: A survey was conducted in professionals' group using the depression stigma questionnaire. The study comprised of a survey of 139 persons aged over 18 years, psychiatric staff working in the psychiatric hospital: psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, carers and other professions (represented by social workers). The respondents reported their personal attitudes (personal stigma) and perceptions of the attitudes of others (perceived stigma) in the community they work. Results: Personal stigma is lowest among the highest trained professionals (psychiatrists and psychologists) and highest among the lowest specialized personnel (carers and other professions). Perceived stigma is greater than personal stigma among all the professionals working in the psychiatric care system, the highest trained professionals have highest levels of perceived stigma and the lowest trained professionals have the lowest levels of perceived stigma. Conclusion: Stigmatizing attitudes are common to all professionals, the results suggest that there is a need to train better the staff according to its needs and to make more public awareness interventions tailored to the targeted groups. The current results provide a baseline for future interventions in order to decrease the stigma levels of professionals.