Self-stigma, treatment adherence, and medication discontinuation in patients with bipolar disorders in remission – a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Self-stigma is a gradual process during which a stigmatized person uncritically accesses and integrates negative societal stereotypes towards persons with mental disorders. Objective It has been repeatedly shown that fear of stigma and self-stigma is associated with lower adherence to various medical procedures. Aims The aim of study is to investigate the relationship between current adherence, discontinuing of medication in the past and self-stigmatization by stable patients with bipolar disorder. Method Until now 33 outpatients with bipolar disorder completed The Drug Attitude Inventory-10 items (DAI-10) scale used to estimate adherence to treatment, the Internalized Stigma Mental Inventory scale (ISMI) measuring self-stigma and The Clinical Global Impression (CGI), which assesses current severity of mental disorders. Demographic and clinical data were also obtained. Results Current results show that, the level of adherence to pharmacotherapy positively correlated with age and negatively with self-stigma. Nineteen (57.6%) patients discontinued medication at least once in the past. The patients, who discontinued medication in the past, were significantly younger and more often single when compared to the patients who did not discontinue medication. There were no other differences between the groups in the clinical and demographical data. There was also no difference in the level of adherence in patients treated by different drugs. Conclusions More than half of bipolar patients discontinued medication in the past. The risk of the discontinuation of medication is higher in patients who are young and single. The rate of current adherence significantly negatively correlated with self-stigma.