A comparison of stigma toward eating disorders versus depression

Abstract

Stigma toward individuals with eating disorders is greater than stigma toward depression and includes unique features such as attitudes of envy. Implications of these results for the understanding of mental disorder stigma and eating disorders are discussed.

Eating disorder literacy and stigmatising attitudes towards anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder among adolescents

“…Previous research investigating the lay beliefs and stigma associated with EDs has tended to recruit adult community or university samples rather than adolescents, Help-seeking is also likely to be undermined by the negative attitudes to people with EDs that this research revealed. The results confirm previous international findings that among the general population, EDs are stigmatised to a greater extent than other mental or physical health conditions (Roehrig & McLean, 2010;Stewart et al, 2006Stewart et al, , 2008Crisp, 2005;Griffiths et al, 2014b). The differential responses to the various vignettes show that unfavourable attitudes were present in this adolescent sample.…”

“…This is despite the fact that the evidence that does exist suggests that EDs are stigmatised to a greater extent than other mental or physical disorders. Roehrig and McLean (2010) compared undergraduate students' responses to vignettes describing individuals with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and depression, and found that the AN and BN targets were perceived as more culpable, attention-seeking and fragile than targets with depression. A similar vignette-based design by Stewart et al (2006), using an older community-based sample, found that participants were more likely to blame the AN target for their illness and to believe that they could simply 'pull themselves together'.…”

“…However, minimal research has investigated the prevalence of stigmatising attitudes among young people. Some research has focused on university populations, within which vignette-based designs reproduce findings that EDs are more stigmatised than other disorders (Griffiths, Mond, Murray & Touyz, 2014b;Roehrig & McLean, 2010). Stigma research with school-age adolescents remains lacking.…”

“…Thus, boys may face particularly severe social or emotional barriers to divulging eating concerns. Although girls also perceive EDs as disabling and shameful, evidence suggests that for some women, this can be tempered by a belief that it 'might not be too bad' to have an ED, due to its signification of discipline and attainment of the thin ideal (Mond & Hay, 2008;Mond, Hay, Rodgers, Owen, & Beumont, 2004;Roehrig & McLean, 2010). Mond and Marks' (2007) study of Australian schoolgirls suggests that this representation of EDs as desirable begins in adolescence.…”

Stigma and treatment of eating disorders in Ireland: healthcare professionals’ knowledge and attitudes

“…Studies conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom suggest that people with EDs are viewed negatively by the public (Crisp, 2005;Stewart et al 2008). Specifically, compared with other mental and physical illnesses, EDs are more often seen as self-inflicted or reflecting attention-seeking (Crisp, 2005;Stewart et al 2006;Crisafulli et al 2008;Roehrig & McLean, 2010;Ebneter & Latner, 2013;McLean et al 2014). These negative projections may result in dissociation from individuals with EDs (Crisp, 2005;Stewart et al 2008;Zwickert & Rieger, 2013), which can foster a sense of isolation among those affected and a reluctance to disclose their illness.…”