"I am what I am": a review of the assumptions of anti-self-stigma intervention

The aim of this study is to discuss the validity of introducing an intervention based on anti-self-stigma in a group of patients with psychotic disorders. The article describes the assumptions of the proposed intervention and the approximate model of therapeutic work. In this article, the most important concepts in the area of stigmatization and self-stigma are presented and discussed.

Self-stigma is part of a wider social phenomenon known as stigma. The process of stigmatization was first described in the 1960s and consists of ascribing undesirable features to certain social groups, which leads to many negative consequences such as social exclusion and discrimination. While every aspect of the human experience can be stigmatized, recent psychological research has focused mainly on the stigma and self-stigma associated with a diagnosis of mental illness. Self-stigma results in negative self-esteem and a vicious circle of the "why try" effect. Low self-esteem strengthens self-stigma. We predicted that therapy aimed at improving self-esteem may have a positive effect on reducing of self-stigma. Recent studies have shown that therapies targeting low self-esteem are more effective than those targeting self-stigmatizing beliefs.

Self-stigma is an important problem among patients hospitalized due to psychotic disorders. No training aimed at working with this aspect of experience has been introduced in Poland to date. Our observations show that the proposed training can support the healing process of patients and positively affect the ways in which the patient deals with self-stigma. The proposed intervention requires the evaluation of the effectiveness in a clinical trial involving patients diagnosed with psychotic disorders.