An online survey of the stigma attached to psychiatry and psychiatrists in India

Abstract

IntroductionStigma in psychiatry is pervasive, it does not stop at illness and marks all those who are ill, their families across generations, institutions that provide treatment, psychotropics’, and mental health professionals. Stigma directed towards psychiatry as a branch & psychiatrists in particular has not been systematically studied in the Indian context.ObjectivesTo study the Indian psychiatrists perspective of stigma directed towards psychiatry & psychiatrists.MethodsAn online survey containing “The World Psychiatric Association Stigma Questionnaire” was sent to the members of the Indian Psychiatric Society. Two hundred and three Indian psychiatrists filled out the questionnaire which assesses the stigmatization of psychiatry and psychiatrist as perceived by the psychiatrists themselves.ResultsOne hundred and thirty-two psychiatrists completed the survey with a completion rate of 65%, 75% of the respondents were male and most of their clientele was from urban catchment area. Sixty percent of the psychiatrists were either working in a psychiatry hospital or a psychiatry unit in a general hospital setting. More than a third had high-perceived stigma but had a very low stereotype agreement. Discrimination experiences were noted by more than 75% of psychiatrists, however less than 8% had a negative stigma outcome.ConclusionsThough most of the Indian psychiatrists perceive themselves as being stigmatized, the stereotype agreement was found to be low and the discrimination experiences did not have significant impact on job performance. Though this might reflect resilience, we must attempt to improve the image of psychiatry and strive towards achieving a larger public acceptance of mental health services in India.