Internalized stigma and coping strategies among patients with neurotic spectrum disorders: A descriptive study at a...

Internalized stigma is an important obstacle to recovery in people with neurotic spectrum disorders and can hurt coping and psychosocial functioning. Evidence from the Indian context remains limited. This study aimed to evaluate internalized stigma and coping strategies, and their relationship among patients with neurotic spectrum disorders. This descriptive cross-sectional study included 165 patients attending the psychiatric outpatient department of a tertiary care center in eastern India. The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI-29) scale was used to measure internalized stigma, while coping strategies were measured with the Brief-COPE inventory. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple linear regression were used for analysis. Results indicated that 63.6% of participants had higher coping scores and more than half (53.9%) had moderate internalized stigma scores. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between internalized stigma and coping strategies (r = -0.217, p = 0.005), meaning higher internalized stigma scores were correlated with poorer coping. Coping was significantly related to age, occupation, marital status, number of children, and age at onset of the illness (p < 0.005). Occupational status was significantly correlated with internalized stigma (p < 0.005). Stigma is common among patients with neurotic spectrum disorders and is negatively correlated with coping. Results indicate the importance of nursing interventions aimed at reducing stigma and strengthening adaptive coping strategies to improve psychosocial outcomes. Internal consistency for the current sample was acceptable (Cronbach's α = 0.89 for ISMI-29 and 0.82 for Brief-COPE.