Study of self- stigma and self -esteem in patients with anxiety and depression

Abstract

: Self -stigma occurs when a person accepts the negative attitude towards them, then internalize and apply belief to themselves. Self-esteem is individual’s subjective evaluation of their own worth. Self-stigma and self-esteem affects a person’s perception about themselves and the society surrounding them which plays an important role in treatment. It is most commonly affected in people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.The aim was to study self-stigma and self-esteem in patients with anxiety and depression.After permission from Institutional ethics committee, semi-structured proforma, Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory-9 and Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale was used to assess 50 consecutive participants diagnosed with anxiety and depression according to DSM-5 criteria. Participants satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study. The data collected was tabulated and analysed statistically and results and conclusions were drawn by using chi-square test, a p-value of <0.05 was considered significant.Mean age of participants was 38.88 years with 64% females, majority being married, predominantly from urban background having education of at least secondary school certificate.19 participants were diagnosed with anxiety while 31 had depression.56% of the participants had high self-stigma and 54% participants had low self-esteem. There wasn’t any significant difference in percentages of high self-stigma and low self-esteem when compared between anxiety disorders and in depression. There were no significant socio-demographic or clinical correlates relating to self- stigma and self-esteem according to this study. It was observed that both high self-stigma and low self-esteem was significantly high in psychiatric patients. It was seen that low self- esteem was associated with high self-stigma and high self-esteem was associated with low self-stigma. Hence, steps must be taken to psycho-educate the patient and their family members in order to reduce self-stigma and help in increasing their self-esteem.