Mental Illness: Stigma

Abstract

Mentally ill people tend to be stigmatized; that is, they are considered individuals with an attribute that is socially devalued. This entry not only offers conceptualizations and features of mental illness stigma, but also explains how the stigma impacts communication by those with and without mental illness. Corrigan and Kleinlein (2005) extend the definition of stigma by introducing two types of stigma: public stigma and self-stigma (Table 1). Public stigma Public stigma is the reaction that the general public has to individuals with mental illness. Three components make up public stigma: stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. Stereotypes are efficiently processed social knowledge structures that are associated with a social group. Specifically, mentally ill individuals tend to be seen as being dangerous, unpredictable, and incompetent. These are examples of stereotypes many people have about those with mental illness. Even if people recognize stereotypes about mentally ill individuals such as mentally ill individuals being dangerous and unpredictable, that does not mean that they endorse these negative stereotypes. People who are prejudiced endorse these negative stereotypes and generate negative emotional reactions such as fear toward mentally ill people. Discrimination occurs when the prejudiced people behave negatively toward mentally ill individuals such as by rejecting mentally ill individuals or showing an unwillingness to employ them. In line with the theoretical accounts by Corrigan and Kleinlein (2005), a large body of research has examined what stereotypes the public has about mentally ill people and how people react to those with mental illness. By synthesizing these studies, Angermeyer and Dietrich (2006) provided a review of population-based attitude research on mental illness based on the results from 62 studies conducted across various countries. The results indicated that the most prevalent stereotype attached to mentally ill people is that they are unpredictable. This stereotype holds more true for people with schizophrenia or alcoholism than for people with depression or anxiety disorders. The second most frequent stereotype is that mentally ill people are violent and dangerous. This stereotype also holds more true for people with schizophrenia or alcoholism than for people with depression or anxiety disorders. The most frequent emotional reaction toward mentally ill people is prosocial reactions such as feeling sorry for those with mental illnesses, and this is especially true for depressive people. Next come feelings of unease, uncertainty, and fear, and this is particularly true for