Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: October | Volume: 5 | Issue: 10 | Pages: 165-171
A Rural Community-Based Study on Public Stigma towards Mental Illness from Eastern India
Dr Arghya Pal1, Dr Sayanti Paul2, Dr Dilip Kumar Mondal3
1Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun
2Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun
3Professor, Department of Psychiatry, RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata
Corresponding Author: Dr Sayanti Paul
ABSTRACT
Background: Considerable stigmatizing attitude exists towards persons suffering from mental illness in spite of considerable measures to counter stigma. The current study tried to explore level of public stigma towards mental illness from a rural community-based sample from Eastern India.
Methods: It was an observational study with cross-sectional design done in a village in Howrah District, West Bengal, India, in 2017. The interview schedule consisted of a socio-demographic and clinical proforma, Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) and Perceived devaluation discrimination scale (PDD).
Results: Of the 602 families, most respondents were females (60.1%) and members of nuclear family (60.6%). Negative attitude towards mental illness was found to be positively correlated to age of the responder, family size and monthly family income. A family history of use of prescription psychotropic medication in the family was found to be significantly correlated to less stigmatizing attitude to persons with mental illness (PMI).
Conclusion: Significant public stigma and negative attitude to mental illness exists exist in our sample. There can be discreet attributes in PMI that is distinct from the illness characteristics that needs our attention in the future for success of the anti-stigma campaign. The major limitation of our study was the use of a cross-sectional design and use of sample of convenience.
Key words: Social Stigma; Public stigma; Mental illness; Community; Negative attitude
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