Abstract
BackgroundPublic understanding about mental illnesses and attitudes towards people with mental illness (PWMI) play a paramount role in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the rehabilitation of PWMI. The aim of this study was to measure public stigma against PWMI and the factors associated with stigma in the Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center (GGFRC) in Southwest Ethiopia.MethodsThis community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2012 among 845 randomly selected respondents by using the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was entered with EPI-DATA and then exported to STATA for analysis. Simple descriptive and linear regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of stigma against PWMI.ResultsOf the total of 845 respondents, 68.17% were from rural districts. The mean stigma score was 2.62 on a 5-point score. The majority of the respondents (75.27%) believed that mental illness can be cured. Stress, poverty, and rumination were the most often perceived causes of mental illness. Rural residents had significantly higher stigma scores (std. β = 0.61, P<0.001). A statistically significant inverse relationship was found between the level of education and degree of stigma (std. β = −0.14, P<0.01), while higher income was significantly associated with more stigma (std. β = 0.07, P<0.05). Respondents with higher scores for perceived supernatural causes (std. β = −0.09, P<0.01) and perceived psychosocial and biological causes (std. β = −0.14, P<0.001) had significantly lower stigma levels.ConclusionsThe study found a more undermining but less avoidant attitude towards PWMI. Rural residents showed higher levels of stigma. Stigma against PWMI was lower in people with an explanatory concept about the causes of mental illness and a higher level of education. Information, education, and communication about the causes, signs, and nature of mental illnesses would help to reduce stigma.
Highlights
Public understanding about mental illnesses and attitudes towards people with mental illness (PWMI) play a paramount role in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the rehabilitation of PWMI
PWMI and family members of PWMI find stigma a great challenge to cope with, and international organizations like the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly suggest that systematic and multifaceted interventions are put into place to fight stigma [5,6,7,8,9] against PWMI
Stigma is a consequence of mental illness and a factor that interferes with help-seeking behavior, and it may delay treatment-seeking in patients with mental illness [6,14,15,16,17] and, as a consequence, the cure and rehabilitation process
Summary
Public understanding about mental illnesses and attitudes towards people with mental illness (PWMI) play a paramount role in the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the rehabilitation of PWMI. Mental illness is a universal and common health problem [4], communities tend to show stigmatizing behavior towards people with mental illness (PWMI) for one or more of the above mentioned reasons. Stigma is a consequence of mental illness and a factor that interferes with help-seeking behavior, and it may delay treatment-seeking in patients with mental illness [6,14,15,16,17] and, as a consequence, the cure and rehabilitation process. One study conducted in Ethiopia indicated that more than eighty percent of patients with mental illness reported that the community perceives mental illness as a shameful illness, and the same study reported that there was a significant delay in seeking modern treatment for mental illnesses [18]
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