Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness among Schizophrenic Patients and Their Families (Comparative Study)

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness. It begins mainly in adolescence or young adulthood and significantly disturbs the educational, social, and professional life of the patient. Schizophrenia is reported to occur in 1% to 7.5 per 1000 in given year of the world’s population. The experience of schizophrenia is not limited to the symptoms of the illness. It is accompanied by what calls a ‘‘second illness’’ the reactions of the social environment, the stigma associated with the disorder. Stigma affects not only people with mental illnesses, but also their families as well. Families commonly report ‘stigma by association’ resulting in discriminatory and prejudicial behaviors towards them. Stigma associated with mental illness brought shame to the family and affect the marriage potential of other relatives, so families keep the illness private and are often reluctant to seek professional help. Stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness are common and remain a burden for the stigmatized individuals as well as a major clinical and public health issue. Stigma surrounding schizophrenia may result in delayed treatment, thereby increasing risks for health problems, abnormal behavior, and violence. The effects of mental illness stigma on the schizophrenic patients include psychological stress, depression and other psychiatric morbidity, fear, marital and relationship problems, restrictions from social participation. Families suffer from stigma because of the patient’s illness. Family members reported as they have hard lives because of the illness, and they reported psychological suffering, sleep and relationship disturbances, and poor quality of life. They experiences of distrust, contempt and maltreatment. Families also reported feeling neglected, especially from neighbors and relatives, and reported feeling that people were afraid of them. So that this study aim to identify to assess what forms of stigma do patients with schizophrenia experience and the magnitude of perceived stigma among family caregivers of persons with schizophrenia.