Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia

Abstract

This review revealed that the stigmatization of people with mental illness is widespread in Asia. The features of stigmatization-beliefs about causes of and attitudes towards mental illness, consequences for help-seeking-have more commonalities than differences to Western countries.

Adolescent depressive symptoms in India, Australia and USA: Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling of cross-national invariance and predictions by gender and age

“…Commenting on developing nations in Asia, Lauber and Rossler (2006) noted that stigmatization is more prevalent in these cultures than in Western cultures (47). Kermode et al (2009) found that the majority of participants from his study in rural Maharashtra did not conceptualise depression or psychosis as a "real medical issue" (38) .…”

Mental health help seeking among Filipinos: a review of the literature

“…Although stigmatization and its effects on mental health help-seeking behavior s are not unique to Filipinos (Abdullah & Brown, 2011;Lauber & Rössler, 2007), hiya could be a potential barrier or a compounding problem to seeking mental health services. Hiya has been loosely translated by some scholars as 'shame'.…”

Effects of a Documentary Film on Public Stigma Related to Mental Illness Among Genetic Counselors

“…Mental illnesses are amongst the conditions that are most profoundly affected by disease-associated stigma -indeed, it has been suggested that for some affected individuals, the effects of mental illness-related stigma are so negative that they actually often outweigh the negative effects of the illness itself (Hinshaw and Stier 2008). Stigma is a complex social construct comprising interrelated processes that operate at the level of institutions (institutional stigma), social groups (public stigma), and the individual (internalized or self-stigma) (Corrigan and Watson 2002;Hinshaw and Stier, 2008;Lauber and Rossler 2007;Link et al 2004). Of the three levels at which stigma operates, public stigma (defined as the phenomenon whereby large social groups have negative attitudes towards and beliefs about, and even act against those with a disenfranchised trait -like mental illness (Corrigan and Watson 2002)) has received the greatest attention.…”

“…Public stigma can have damaging effects for people with mental illness. For example, negative attitudes of mental health workers and psychiatrists towards individuals with mental illness has been associated with decreased use of needed healthcare services amongst individuals with mental illness, thus exacerbating the effects and symptoms of the illness on the individual (Lauber and Rossler 2007;Nordt et al 2006;Rusch et al 2005). …”