Examining causal beliefs and stigmatizing attitudes toward persons diagnosed with severe mental illness
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: Persons diagnosed with severe mental illness are frequently stigmatized as dangerous and unpredictable.Historically, these attitudes have perpetuated years of cruel, inhumane treatment of persons diagnosed with severe mental illness.Stigma research continues to show a link between a belief in the biological/genetic origins of mental illness and higher levels of stigmatization and prejudice.Despite this fact, the most visible anti-stigma programs portray mental illness as "an illness like any other," such as diabetes or cancer, with the belief that a reduction in blame will result in a reduction in stigma.Several explanations have been provided about why the biological explanation of mental illness is not correlated with decreases in stigma.However, no study thus far has gone beyond conjecture.In the present study, I used a qualitative approach to seek out the underlying attitudes that may contribute to increased stigmatization with a biogenetic conceptualization of mental illness.
Author: Emily K. Reese
Institution: Miami University
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2578733917