Changes in mental illness stigma over 30 years - Improvement, persistence, or deterioration?

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Research
• Social Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Despite extensive anti-stigma campaigns, population-level changes in attitudes toward mental illness remain unclear.
• Societal perceptions of mental health conditions require ongoing evaluation to assess the impact of public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine evolving public attitudes towards individuals with depression and schizophrenia in Germany from 1990 to 2020.
• To determine if trends in social distance and emotional reactions differ between depression and schizophrenia over three decades.

Main Methods:

• A repeated cross-sectional population study in western Germany surveyed individuals in 1990, 2001, 2011, and 2020.
• Analysis focused on time-trends in social distance and emotional responses concerning major depression and acute schizophrenia.

Main Results:

• Social distance increased for schizophrenia but improved for depression; fear and uneasiness rose for schizophrenia while declining for depression.
• Pro-social reactions like the desire to help decreased for schizophrenia but increased for depression.
• Attitudinal disparities between depression and schizophrenia widened, with negative changes for schizophrenia concentrated between 1990-2001.

Conclusions:

• Contrary to expectations, stigma surrounding acute schizophrenia has intensified in Germany over the past 30 years.
• Attitudes towards depression have shown slight improvement, but overall progress in public perception of severe mental illness is limited.
• Anti-stigma initiatives may need re-focusing to specifically address severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia.