Public conceptions of schizophrenia in urban Brazil

Peluso, Érica de Toledo Piza; Peres, C.; Blay, Sérgio Luís

doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0372-7

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…Five major findings can be concluded from these population studies. First, many members of the general public could not correctly recognise mental disorders [2–4]. Second, public beliefs about the causes of mental disorders and the effectiveness of various treatments differed greatly from those of mental health professionals [5–7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

Have

Graaf²,

Ormel

et al. 2009

Soc Psychiat Epidemiol

236

137

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ObjectiveTo investigate the prevailing attitudes towards mental health help-seeking in Europe, their correlates, and whether these attitudes are associated with actual service use for mental health problems.MethodData were derived from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, a survey representative of the adult population of six countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (n = 8,796). The World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess attitudes and DSM-IV diagnoses. The attitudes referred to beliefs that the respondents would seek professional help when faced with a serious emotional problem, would feel comfortable talking about personal problems with a professional, would not be embarrassed if friends knew about the professional help, and respondents’ perceived effectiveness of mental health care.ResultsAlmost a third of the respondents held the view that professional care was worse than or equal to no help when faced with serious emotional problems. Female gender, being younger than 65 years of age, high income, living in Spain or Italy, presence of mood disorder and previous service use were associated with at least two of the four assessed attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. All four attitudes were significantly associated with mental health care use, also after adjustment for previous service use.ConclusionThe low perceived effectiveness of professional care calls for serious action aiming to improve the visibility and credibility of the mental health care sector.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

Have

Graaf²,

Ormel

et al. 2009

Soc Psychiat Epidemiol

236

137

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Public attitudes towards psychiatry and psychiatric treatment at the beginning of the 21st century: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of population surveys

et al. 2017

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Public attitudes towards psychiatry are crucial determinants of help-seeking for mental illness. It has been argued that psychiatry as a discipline enjoys low esteem among the public, and a "crisis" of psychiatry has been noted. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of population studies examining public attitudes towards various aspects of psychiatric care. Our search in PubMed, Web of Science, PsychINFO and bibliographies yielded 162 papers based on population surveys conducted since 2000 and published no later than 2015. We found that professional help for mental disorders generally enjoys high esteem. While general practitioners are the preferred source of help for depression, mental health professionals are the most trusted helpers for schizophrenia. If respondents have to rank sources of help, they tend to favor mental health professionals, while open questions yield results more favorable to general practitioners. Psychiatrists and psychologists/psychotherapists are equally recommended for the treatment of schizophrenia, while for depression psychologists/psychotherapists are more recommended, at least in Europe and America. Psychotherapy is consistently preferred over medication. Attitudes towards seeking help from psychiatrists or psychologists/psychotherapists as well as towards medication and psychotherapy have markedly improved over the last twenty-five years. Biological concepts of mental illness are associated with stronger approval of psychiatric help, particularly medication. Self-stigma and negative attitudes towards persons with mental illness decrease the likelihood of personally considering psychiatric help. In conclusion, the public readily recommends psychiatric help for the treatment of mental disorders. Psychotherapy is the most popular method of psychiatric treatment. A useful strategy to further improve the public image of psychiatry could be to stress that listening and understanding are at the core of psychiatric care.Key words: Public attitudes, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychotropic medication, depression, schizophrenia, systematic review, metaanalysis (World Psychiatry 2017;16:50-61) In recent years, the notion of a crisis of psychiatry has spread in professional circles. In scientific journals, the question has been asked whether psychiatry is "on the ropes" 1 and "psychiatrists are an endangered species" 2 . Numerous internal threats to psychiatry (e.g., feeling of loss of autonomy, competing views which highlight biological or social factors, or tension between generalists and specialists) as well as external threats (e.g., changes related to health care and medical education policies, intrusion of other health professional groups into the territory which psychiatry claims for itself) have been identified 1,2 . There is also growing concern about the poor image of the discipline in the eyes of the general public as well as of medical students, health professionals and the media 3,4 . Psychiatrists increasingly feel underestimated as well as stigmatized and discr...

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Tackling the mental illness stigma in low- and middle-income countries: lessons learned from high-income countries and mistakes to avoid

Lasalvia¹

2015

Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci

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Public conceptions of schizophrenia in urban Brazil

Abstract: Medical-scientific concepts are used less in São Paulo than in other countries. The main causes attributed by the public relate to psychosocial stress. Causes of biological or moral nature are considered less relevant.

Cited by 13 publications

References 33 publications

Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

Public attitudes towards psychiatry and psychiatric treatment at the beginning of the 21st century: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of population surveys

Tackling the mental illness stigma in low- and middle-income countries: lessons learned from high-income countries and mistakes to avoid

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