Experiences of stigma and discrimination among users of mental health services in Poland

Stigmatization is commonly recognized as one of the main barriers to recovery and to social inclusion of people with mental illnesses. This exploratory study investigated the frequency, type, and sources of actual stigma and discrimination experiences among Polish psychiatric patients. A total of 442 people, treated in various psychiatric health care facilities in Warsaw, were interviewed with the use of the Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (CESQ). Qualitative data regarding sources of experienced stigma were also obtained. The respondents reported relatively frequent experiences of stigmatization in everyday situations and interpersonal relations, but they seldom complained of any specific instances of discrimination. The most frequently reported source of stigma was employers and supervisors at work, followed by family, and general community members. Implications of the findings for clinical practice and policy are discussed

Exploratory research · Family medicine · Interpersonal communication · Mental health · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Social stigma · Sociology · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Individual and neighborhood predictors of mental illness stigma in New York state

  Open Access•Lauren Gonzales, Gerald Chan et al.•Stigma and Health•2016

  Incluir item

• The reflexive relationship between available university services and mental health ideations

  Open Access•Jacob Watson, Taylor Lee et al.•Frontiers in Communication•2022

  Incluir item

• Heterosexism, racism, and mental illness discrimination

  Lynn C Holley, Natasha S Mendoza et al.•Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social…•2016

  Incluir item

• The role of moral explanations and structural inequalities in experiences of mental illness stigma in Northern Minas Gerais, Brazil

  Open Access•Patrícia Neves Guimarães, Duncan Pedersen•Transcultural Psychiatric…•2022

  Incluir item

• Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness

  Norman Sartorius, Hugh Schulze•Reducing the Stigma of Mental…•2005

  Incluir item

• On the stigma of mental illness

  Patrick W Corrigan•On The Stigma Of Mental Illness•2005

  Incluir item

• Stigma and disclosure

  Patrick W Corrigan, Patrick Corrigan et al.•Journal of Mental Health•2003

  Incluir item

• Mental illness stigma

  Open Access•N Rusch, Matthias C Angermeyer et al.•European Psychiatry•2005

  Incluir item

• An investigation of stigma in individuals receiving treatment for substance abuse

  Open Access•Jason B Luoma, Michael P Twohig et al.•Addictive Behaviors•2007

  Incluir item

• Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses

  Open Access•Arthur H Crisp, MICHAEL G GELDER et al.•The British Journal of Psychiatry•2000

  Incluir item

• Experience of social stigma by people with schizophrenia in Hong Kong

  Open Access•Sing Lee, Margaret T Y Lee et al.•The British Journal of Psychiatry•2005

  Incluir item

• Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia

  Open Access•Graham Thornicroft, Elaine Brohan et al.•The Lancet•2009

  Incluir item

• Mental Health Consumers' Experience of Stigma

  Otto F Wahl•Schizophrenia Bulletin•1999

  Incluir item

• Public beliefs about and attitudes towards people with mental illness

  Open Access•M C Angermeyer, Sandra Dietrich•Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica•2006

  Incluir item

• Measuring Mental Illness Stigma

  Bruce G Link, Lawrence Hsin Yang et al.•Schizophrenia Bulletin•2004

  Incluir item

• Stigma

  Erving Goffman•Stigma•2009

  Incluir item

• Stigma and Explanatory Models Among People With Schizophrenia and Their Relatives in Vellore, South India

  Open Access•Helen Charles, S D Manoranjitham et al.•International Journal of Social…•2007

  Incluir item

• Public conceptions of mental illness

  Bruce G Link, Jo C Phelan et al.•American Journal of Public Health•1999

  Incluir item

• Covering up what can't be seen

  Laura Smart, Daniel M Wegner•Journal of Personality and Social…•1999

  Incluir item

• Gender and the stigma of onchocercal skin disease in Africa

  Open Access•Carol Vlassoff, Mitchell G Wei et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2000

  Incluir item

• The Effectiveness of Stigma Coping Orientations

  Bruce G Link, Jerrold Mirotznik et al.•Journal of Health and Social…•1991

  Incluir item

• Conceptualizing Stigma

  Bruce G Link, Lexi Harari et al.•Annual Review of Sociology•2001

  Incluir item

• Psychiatric stigma across cultures

  Mitchell G Wei, Mitchell G Weiss et al.•Anthropology and Medicine•2001

  Incluir item