Internalized stigma of mental illness in Sweden and Iran—A comparative study

作     者：Lars Jacobsson Helia Ghanean Birgitta Tornkvist 

作者机构：Department of PsychiatryUmeaUniversityUmeaSweden Tehran Medical UniversityTehranIran Department of StatisticsUmeaUniversityUmeaSweden 

出 版 物：《Open Journal of Psychiatry》 (精神病学期刊（英文）)

年 卷 期：2013年第3卷第4期

页      面：370-374页

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100214[医学-肿瘤学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：Mental Disorders Internalized Stigma Iran Sweden 

摘      要：Objectives: Stigma and discrimination because of mental illness is still prevalent even in high-income countries where a lot of emphasis has been given to anti-stigma activities and measures to reduce the marginalization of these persons. One aspect of the stigma issue is the self-stigmatization that persons suffering from mental illness are experiencing. In this study two different societies have been compared as regards internalized stigma of mental illness. Methods: A widely used questionnaire was used by the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale (ISMI). One sample of psychiatric patients from Sweden (N = 163) and from Iran (N = 138) is compared. Results: The Swedish sample generally reports lower levels of experienced stigma except for items covering selfblame and feelings of alienation. Conclusions: There are reasons to consider the aspect of self-stigmatization when working with mentally ill persons even in high income countries with well developed mental health services.