A Comparison of Responses to the Mentally Ill in Two Communities

Abstract

Vignettes representing mentally ill people were presented to about 2000 randomly selected residents in Bromsgrove, served by a mental hospital, and Malvern, served by a community-based psychiatric service. They were asked about the likely cause of the condition, what action they would take, and what agencies were most likely to help. In Malvern, residents seemed more enterprising in involving various agencies and more tolerant. It is possible to derive simple 'action scores' as an indicator of such tolerance. Although there were significant demographic differences between subgroups, overall identification of vignette subjects as mentally ill was surprisingly low, and so was knowledge both of community psychiatric nurses as an agency, and of the location of dispersed treatment facilities in both areas.

Mental health and identity: the evaluation of a drop‐in centre

“…Studies carried out over the last 10 years suggest that being labelled as having a`mental illness', still invokes a range of pejorative and hostile social commentaries which position the person as incompetent, unstable and as potentially threatening (Hall et al, 1993;Williams and Taylor, 1995;Wolff et al, 1996). Such discourses act to legitimize the exclusion of the person who has been labelled as having a mental illness from mainstream social activities.…”

Reducing the stigma of schizophrenia: understanding the process and options for interventions

“…However, with the current lack of relevant data, the question as to the extent to which community psychiatry has actually achieved an improvement of public attitudes remains unanswered. All the same, the majority of studies investigating the association between personal experience with mentally ill people and attitudes towards them come to a positive conclusion: respondents who had had personal contacts less frequently believed that those with mental illness are dangerous, and they expressed less desire for social distance (Link & Cullen, 1986;Penn et al, 1994;Whaley, 1997;Trute & Loewen, 1978;Trute et al, 1989;Hall et al, 1993;Ng et al, 1995;Angermeyer & Matschinger, 1996). In connection with this, it is important to note that the effect of personal experience appears to be mainly achieved through a change in the emotional reactions towards people with mental illness: pro-social reactions were increased while insecurity and fear were less frequent (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 1997).…”

Evaluating stigma against mental disorder and related factors

“…Since 1996, the World Psychiatric Association has been developing programs in a number of countries to reduce discrimination and prejudice against individuals with mental illness, and in particular against those with schizophrenia 4–8 . However, stigma against mental disorder has been shown to be strongly rooted, and levels of stigma differ according to region and attributes of residents 9–13 . Studies of specific target areas and populations are, therefore, sorely needed to allow implementation of effective educational programs 6,7 .…”