Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Resistance and Reproduction

Mental Illness Stigma Observed in a Chinese Psychiatric Hospital

Bibliographic Data

ID14636262
AuthorsZhuyun Lin (0000-0001-7833-7541, University of Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume50
Issue2
Publication date2026-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Medicine and Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0165-005X • E-ISSN: 1573-076X
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11013-026-09980-5
PMID41957312
OpenAlexW7152410316
LanguageEN
References cited59

Grounded in stigma resistance theory, this ethnographic study identifies resistance strategies employed by patients and families within a Chinese psychiatric hospital, often in collaboration with institutional practices. While denial manifested as refusal to acknowledge diagnoses, distancing involved both social avoidance of peers and spatial negotiations. These strategies are characterized by subtle and personalized actions that receive limited attention. Although patients and families actively resist stigma, their efforts are constrained by the lack of supportive networks and the entrenched structural stigma within mental health systems, reinforcing the existing power dynamics within the facility. To meaningfully address and dismantle these entrenched structures, it is imperative to foster collaborative frameworks that bridge the perspectives of patients, families, and healthcare providers

Denial · Distancing · Mental health · Mental illness · Psychiatric hospital · Resistance (ecology · Social distance · Social stigma · Stigma (botany · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Mental Health Treatment and Access

  • Mental illness stigma

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

  • Thematic Analysis

    Braun, Victoria Clarke•Analysing Qualitative Data in…•2021

  • What is the impact of self-stigma? Loss of self-respect and the “why try” effect

    Patrick W Corrigan, Andrea B Bink et al.•Journal of Mental Health•2016

  • The paradox of self-stigma and mental illness.

    Open Access•Patrick W Corrigan, Amy C Watson•Clinical Psychology: Science and…•2002

  • Mental Health Consumers' Experience of Stigma

    Otto F Wahl•Schizophrenia Bulletin•1999

  • Structural Levels of Mental Illness Stigma and Discrimination

    P W Corrigan, Fred E Markowitz et al.•Schizophrenia Bulletin•2004

  • Domestic Workers in the Arabian Gulf

    Open Access•Claude Beaupre•Migration Mobility & Displacement•2023

  • Envisioning a safety paradigm in inpatient mental health settings

    Open Access•Allie Slemon, Shivinder Dhari•SSM - Mental Health•2024

  • When psychiatry encounters local knowledge of madness

    Open Access•Zhuyun Lin, Zhiying Ma•SSM - Mental Health•2023

  • The oppression/emancipation nexus in ongoing power struggles

    Katsuhiko Masaki•The Journal of Development Studies•2006

  • The Invention of Madness

    Emmi Baum, Emily Baum•Invention of Madness•2018

  • Thematic Analysis

    Braun, Virginia Braun et al.•QMiP Bulletin•2022

  • Maoism and mental illness

    Open Access•Emmi Baum, Emily Baum et al.•History of Psychiatry•2022

  • Internalized stigma in people with severe mental illness in rural China

    Open Access•Mao-Sheng Ran, Mao‐sheng Ran et al.•International Journal of Social…•2018

  • Systematic review and meta-analysis of internalised stigma and stigma resistance in patients with psychosis

    Open Access•Min Yi Sum, Charmaine Tsz Wing Wong et al.•International Journal of Social…•2024

  • Guan (Care/Control)

    Open Access•Jianfeng Zhu, Tianshu Pan et al.•Culture Medicine and Psychiatry•2017

  • Diagnosis Postponed

    Open Access•Sing Lee•Culture Medicine and Psychiatry•1999

  • The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Psychiatric Emergencies

    Open Access•Antônio Geraldo Da Silva, Leonardo Baldaçara et al.•Frontiers in Psychiatry•2020

  • Urban social exclusion and mental health of China's rural-urban migrants – A review and call for research

    Open Access•Jie Li, Nikolas Rose•Health & Place•2017

  • Politically Sensitive Encounters

    Open Access•Brendan Ciarán Browne, Ruari‐santiago Mcbride•Qualitative Sociology Review•2015

  • Unravelling the contexts of stigma

    Open Access•Catherine Campbell, Hilary John Deacon et al.•Journal of Community & Applied…•2006

  • Integrated mental health services in China

    Open Access•Di Liang, Vickie M Mays et al.•Health Policy and Planning•2018

  • Resisting the Stigma of Mental Illness

    Open Access•P A Thoits•Social Psychology Quarterly•2011

  • A Theoretical Perspective on Coping With Stigma

    Open Access•Carol T Miller, Cheryl R Kaiser•Journal of Social Issues•2001

  • Social stigma and self-esteem

    Jennifer Crocker, Brenda Major•Psychological Review•1989

  • Stigma Despite Recovery

    Open Access•Janis Hunter Jenkins, E Carpenter-Song et al.•Medical Anthropology Quarterly•2008

  • Observation and Institutional Ethnography

    Open Access•Sarah Balcom, Shelley Doucet et al.•Qualitative Health Research•2021

  • Face' and the embodiment of stigma in China

    Open Access•Lawrence Hsin Yang, A Kleinman•Social Science & Medicine•2008

  • Will tomorrow be better? The moral experiments of three women with mental illness

    Open Access•Zhuyun Lin•Social Science & Medicine•2025

  • Rethinking the sociology of stigma

    Open Access•I Tyler, Tom Slater•The Sociological Review•2018

  • Promises and perils of Guan

    Open Access•Zhiying Ma•Medicine Anthropology Theory•2020

  • Towards an empirically robust theory of stigma resistance in the 'new' sociology of stigma

    Open Access•Melissa Sebrechts•The Sociological Review•2024

  • Being Mentally Ill

    Thomas J Scheff•Being Mentally Ill•2017

  • Rethinking Historical Trauma

    Open Access•L J Kirmayer, J P Gone et al.•Transcultural Psychiatry•2014

  • Stigma Resistance and Well-Being in the Context of the Mental Illness Identity

    Open Access•Kristen Marcussen, Mary Gallagher et al.•Journal of Health and Social…•2021

  • I'm Not Mentally Ill

    Open Access•P A Thoits•Journal of Health and Social…•2016

  • Conceptualizing Stigma

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

  • How Women in Bangladesh Confront the Stigma of Childlessness

    Open Access•Papreen Nahar, Van Der Geest et al.•Medical Anthropology Quarterly•2014

  • It's Not a Pattern of Behavior

    Open Access•Garrett L Grainger•Symbolic Interaction•2021

Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae