Increasing public understanding of the biological correlates of mental illness seems not to result in better social acceptance of persons with mental illness.

Alcoholism is a particularly severely stigmatized mental disorder. Cultural differences are likely, but under-researched. We discuss possible reasons for the differences between the stigma of alcoholism and of other mental diseases and the consequences for targeted anti-stigma initiatives.

Biogenetic causal models are an inappropriate means of reducing rejection of people with mental illness.

The assumption underlying a number of anti-stigma campaigns, namely that educating people about mental disorders may automatically lead to the improvement of their attitudes towards the mentally ill, appears questionable.

Thus, what already had been reported based on the objective assessment of quality of life, namely that depression implies a persisting impairment of social functioning and living conditions, can be replicated to some extent from the point of view of the patients themselves.