Addressing Stigma Relating to Mental Illness in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Mascayano, Franco; Armijo, Julio; Yang, Lawrence H.

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00038

Cited by 145 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Stereotypes such as an association of the mentally ill with danger, incompetence or blaming the individual for their illness are common and are exacerbated by communities lacking both knowledge of and empathy for the conditions. Discriminatory behaviour can include avoidance and withdrawal, coercion and segregation [25,26].…”

Section: Widespread Discrimination and Stigma Against Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health in low-and middle income countries (LMICs): Going beyond the need for funding

et al. 2018

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Despite being globally recognised as an important public health issue, mental health is still less prioritised as a disease burden in many Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). More than 70% of the global mental health burden occurs in these countries. We discussed mental health issues in LMICs under themes such as abuse and mental illness, cultural influence on mental health, need for dignity in care, meeting financial and workforce gaps and the need for national health policy for the mental health sector. We highlighted that although mental health education and health care services in most LMICs are poorly resourced; there is an urgent need to address issues beyond funding that contribute to poor mental health. In order to meet the increasing challenge of mental health illness in LMICs, there is a need for effort to address cultural and professional challenges that contribute to poor mental health among individuals. We have a notion that mental health should be integrated into primary health care in LMICs. Creating awareness on the impact of some cultural attitudes/practices will encourage better uptake of mental health services and increase the ease when discussing mental health issues in these countries which can contribute to reducing the poor mental health in LMICs.

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Section: Widespread Discrimination and Stigma Against Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health in low-and middle income countries (LMICs): Going beyond the need for funding

et al. 2018

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“…Despite the prevalence of stigma in Indian samples and the implications it has for the lives of persons who have mental illness, the scarcity of anti-stigma programmes in the country is conspicuous. In comparison with campaigns conducted in affluent countries, the development of anti-stigma programmes is still insufficient in low and middle income countries (Mascayano, Armijo, & Yang, 2015). The present study attempted to address this gap.…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

Breaking barriers: An education and contact intervention to reduce mental illness stigma among Indian college students

Ahuja

Dhillon

Juneja

et al. 2017

Psychosocial Intervention

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This study assessed the effectiveness of an intervention designed to foster more positive attitudes towards persons with mental illness among college students in Delhi. A total of 50 young people participated in a one-time education and contact based intervention. Attitudes towards persons with mental illness were assessed before the intervention, immediately after it and at a one week follow-up. Results indicated increased feelings of benevolence, community mental health ideology and less authoritarianism at the post-intervention assessments. Reduction in endorsement of social restrictiveness was also observed but only in the case of the immediate post-assessment. We also observed a greater recognition of needs, increased positive descriptions, decreased negative descriptions and reduced labelling after the intervention. These results support the efficacy of education and contact-based strategies for reducing mental illness stigma. Implications of the findings for low-middle income countries like India are discussed.

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“…Limited availability of data in low income countries [33–35], wide variation in social and cultural definitions and interpretations of mental disorder [36, 37], and limited evidence about the efficacy of intervention approaches [38, 39] all pose barriers to progress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community based system dynamic as an approach for understanding and acting on messy problems: a case study for global mental health intervention in Afghanistan

et al. 2016

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BackgroundAfghanistan lacks suitable specialized mental healthcare services despite high prevalence of severe mental health disorders which are aggravated by the conflict and numerous daily stressors. Recent studies have shown that Afghans with mental illness are not only deprived of care but are vulnerable in many other ways. Innovative participatory approaches to the design of mental healthcare policies and programs are needed in such challenging context.MethodsWe employed community based system dynamics to examine interactions between multiple factors and actors to examine the problem of persistently low service utilization for people with mental illness. Group model building sessions, designed based on a series of scripts and led by three facilitators, took place with NGO staff members in Mazar-I-Sharif in July 2014 and in Kabul in February 2015.ResultsWe identified major feedback loops that constitute a hypothesis of how system components interact to generate a persistently low rate of service utilization by people with mental illness. In particular, we found that the interaction of the combined burdens of poverty and cost of treatment interact with cultural and social stigmatizing beliefs, in the context of limited clinical or other treatment support, to perpetuate low access to care for people with mental disorders. These findings indicate that the introduction of mental healthcare services alone will not be sufficient to meaningfully improve the condition of individuals with mental illness if community stigma and poverty are not addressed concurrently.ConclusionsOur model highlights important factors that prevent persons with mental illness from accessing services. Our study demonstrates that group model building methods using community based system dynamics can provide an effective tool to elicit a common vision on a complex problem and identify shared potential strategies for intervention in a development and global health context. Its strength and originality is the leadership role played by the actors embedded within the system in describing the complex problem and suggesting interventions.

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Addressing Stigma Relating to Mental Illness in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Cited by 145 publications

References 35 publications

Mental Health in low-and middle income countries (LMICs): Going beyond the need for funding

Mental Health in low-and middle income countries (LMICs): Going beyond the need for funding

Breaking barriers: An education and contact intervention to reduce mental illness stigma among Indian college students

Community based system dynamic as an approach for understanding and acting on messy problems: a case study for global mental health intervention in Afghanistan

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