Disorder-specific differences

Abstract

Disorder-specific differences in stigma may be most visible on the part of people who are most often aware of what the disorder is during their contact with the potential targets of stigma. As those who make or are informed of the diagnosis as part of their job, health professionals are the most obvious group in which to seek evidence for such differences. However, public education campaigns mean that the general public is increasingly knowledgeable about those disorders included in the content of such campaigns. Therefore, this chapter summarises evidence for mental disorder-specific differences in stigma on the part of both the general public and health professionals. It also considers the evidence for disorder-specific interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination, including those targeted to either or both of health professionals and the general public. In addition to reviewing evidence from surveys and intervention studies with respect to these two groups, I review disorder-specific studies of newspaper coverage, as media depictions of mental illness exert considerable influence on public attitudes.