Multidimensional Stigma of Mental Health

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reveal stigma manifestations in personal, structural and public levels, its effects on the mental health care system, people with mental disorders, and political decisions in this area in Lithuania. Data of three researches (held in 2015–2016) is presented in the article: the analysis of media discourse, the analysis of a subjective attitude of patients towards the treatment they have received, and the analysis of experts’ opinion on the situation of the mental health care system in Lithuania.
The results revealed that at the personal level stigma is linked to learned helplessness and conciliation with lesser possibilities. Perception of stigma stimulates withdrawal behaviour and avoidance to name the disorder. The analysis of the media also highlighted the tendency to depreciate people with mental disorders and limit their possibilities to form this discourse. The analysis of experts’ opinions revealed the effects of stigma on the mental health care system – dominant discourses help to support the effects of stigma at the structural level. Separate levels of stigma are connected by the scheme of non-constructive coping, which is based on the attempts of psychiatrists to keep the power they have, efforts of patients to keep their privacy, and media’s reaction to critics arguing society’s right to knowledge.
The analysis of personal, structural and public stigma highlights different dimensions of stigma, and helps to identify parallels between individual experiences and a pessimistic and stereotypical attitude towards all the system of the mental health care.