The document discusses social stigma as it relates to mental illness. It notes that social stigma involves stereotypes and discrimination against stigmatized groups by social groups, and can lead to the development of self-stigma. Several studies are cited that show high percentages of people who would not be friends with, hire, or think highly of those with mental illness. The negative effects of stigma are said to outweigh the negative effects of mental illness itself. Several theories for why stigma exists are discussed. Interventions shown to effectively reduce stigma include certain educational interventions and those incorporating contact with people with mental illness.

1. stevenj.barnes
Social Stigma

2. Stigma
Social Stigma
Social Stigma (aka personal stigma, public stigma): Describes the
phenomenon of social groups endorsing stereotypes about and acting
against a stigmatized group.
Note: The experience of social stigma has been shown to lead to the
development of self-stigma (Vogel et al., 2013).

3. Stigma
Psychiatric Stigma
Recently, a news agency conducted a large-scale stigma-based survey and
found the following (see Goodwin, 2014):
• 33% would not be interested in being friends with someone who had
mental health issues.
• 20% thought that mental illness was associated with lower intelligence.
• 62% would not hire someone with a history of mental illness.
• 42% thought that seeking help for mental illness was a sign of weakness.

4. Stigma
Why It Matters: Some Examples
The negative effects of stigma can outweigh the negative effects of the mental disorder
itself (see Hinshaw & Stier, 2008).

5. Stigma
Why It Matters: Some Examples
The negative effects of stigma can outweigh the negative effects of the mental disorder
itself (see Hinshaw & Stier, 2008).
When a person thinks they are interacting with someone who has a mental illness, they
“behave in a wary and even punitive fashion”(Hinshaw & Stier, 2008).

6. Stigma
Some of My Day-to-Day Experiences

7. Stigma
Why Does Stigma Exist?
Several theories exist:
1. Evolutionary Theories.
2. Social Psychological Theories.
3. Terror Management Theory.
4. Perceptions of Dangerousness. Media portrayals of individuals with a
mental illness emphasize a high potential for violence.

9. Stigma
Why Does Stigma Exist?
Several theories exist:
1. Evolutionary Theories.
2. Social Psychological Theories.
3. Terror Management Theory.
4. Perceptions of Dangerousness. Media portrayals of individuals with a
mental illness emphasize a high potential for violence.
Yet, in reality, persons with mental illness are far more likely to be the
victims (even more so than non-mentally-ill individuals), rather than the
perpetrators, of violent crime (see Hinshaw & Stier, 2008).

10. Stigma
Current Public Attitudes
from Barry et al., 2014

11. Stigma
Reducing Stigma
from Arboleda-Florez et al., 2012

12. Stigma
Reducing Social Stigma
The following interventions have been shown to be effective (see Griffiths et al., 2014;
Livingston et al., 2011):
1. Certain educational interventions (e.g., communicating positive stories of people with
mental illness).
2. Interventions that incorporate consumer contact.
In general, internet programs are at least as good as face-to-face interventions (see
Griffiths et al., 2014).

13. Stigma
Reducing Social Stigma
The following interventions have been shown to be effective (see Griffiths et al., 2014;
Livingston et al., 2011):
1. Certain educational interventions (e.g., communicating positive stories of people with
mental illness).
2. Interventions that incorporate consumer contact.
In general, internet programs are at least as good as face-to-face interventions (see
Griffiths et al., 2014).
The following interventions have been shown not to be effective (see Ando et al., 2011):
1. Simulation of mental illness (e.g., simulation of hallucinations).
2. Educational interventions that focus on‘medicalizing’mental illness.

14. Unless indicated otherwise (via a link from the image or text or via a textual reference), some
of the materials presented in these slides were obtained from, or informed by, the following
sources:
1. Griffiths, K. M., Carron-Arthur, B., Parsons, A., Reid, R. (2014). Effectiveness of programs
for reducing the stigma associated with mental disorders. A meta-analysis of randomized
controlled trials. World Psychiatry, 13, 161-175.
2. Goodwin, J. (2014). The horror of stigma: Psychosis and mental health care environments in
twenty-first-century horror film (Part I). Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 50, 201-209.
3. Goodwin, J. (2014). The horror of stigma: Psychosis and mental health care environments in
twenty-first-century horror film (Part II). Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 50, 224-234.
4. Lam, T. P., & Sun, K. S. (2014). Stigmatizing opinions of chinese toward different types
of mental illnesses: A qualitative study in Hong Kong. International Journal of Psychiatry in
Medicine, 8, 217-228.
References

15. 5. Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N.,
Morgan, C., Ruusch, N., Brown, J. S. L., & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental
health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative
studies. Psychological Medicine, 45, 11-27.
6. Livingston, J. D., Milne, T., Fang, M. L., & Amari, E. (2011). The effectiveness of interventions
for reducing stigma related to substance use disorders: A systematic review. Addiction, 107, 39-
50.
7. Ando, S., Clement, S., Barley, E. A., & Thornicroft, G. (2011). The simulation of hallucinations
to reduce the stigma of schizophrenia: A systematic review. Schizophrenia Research, 133, 8-16.
8. Arbodela-Florez, J., & Stuart, H. (2012). From sin to science: Fighting the stigmatization of
mental illnesses. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 57, 457-463.
9. Barry, C. L., McGinty, E. E., Pescosolido, B. A., & Goldman, H. H. (2014). Stigma, discrimination,
treatment effectiveness, and policy: Public views about drug addiction and mental illness.
Psychiatric Services, 65, 1269-1272.
References

16. 10. Hinshaw, S. P., & Stier, A. (2008). Stigma as related to mental disorders. Annual Review of
Clinical Psychology, 4, 367-393.
11. Vogel, D. L., Bitman, R. L., Hammer, J. H., & Wade, N. G. (2013). Is stigma internalized? The
longitudinal impact of public stigma on self-stigma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60, 311-
316.
References