Perceptions of Mental Illness in Mexico: a Descriptive Study in the City of Chihuahua

Abstract

This work is a study of perceptions toward mental illness among respondents from the city of Chihuahua in Mexico. A non-probability sample of forty-seven respondents was taken during a two-week stay in the summer of 1985. To tap respondents' perceptions of mental illness, vignettes characterizing people normally thought to have symptoms of mental illness were employed. The study reveals that men and women perceive mental illness differently. In three out of four vignettes, women perceive mental disorder than men. It is argued that the reason for the disparity in perceptions between the sexes is the result of the sexual differentiation that exists in Mexico. With regard to whom the respondents would refer the person for help, the majority of the respondents recommended that, whether or not the person in the vignette is characterized as mentally ill or simply "sick", the person should seek professional help.

Suffering Depression: Illness Perception of Informal Primary Caregivers of Medical Students With Major Depressive Disorder

“…In Mexican society, as it happens in many others, mental illnesses tend to be considered as the product of a weak character, so they are not thought to be a disease in itself but a manifestation of the way of being. Furthermore, the media show that psychiatric conditions are only present if there are psychotic symptoms, suicide attempts or violence (39,40).…”

Un modelo explicativo de la conducta hacia la enfermedad mental

“…La revisión de la literatura especializada nos muestra cientos de estudios provenientes de las más diversas culturas, incluidos algunos realizados en nuestro país. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Diversas revisiones comprehensivas reseñan sus resultados. [19][20][21][22][23] Sin embargo, a pesar de que la investigación muestra a lo largo del tiempo una consistente modificación de las actitudes en un sentido positivo, predominando en la actualidad manifestaciones de aceptación y comprensión de las enfermedades mentales, la conducta de la población no parece corresponder con las actitudes expresadas.…”