[Social representation of labels associated to mental illness]

The social context linked to deinstitutionalization brought the authors to study the impact of labels placed on people having undergone psychiatry. The objective of this research is to better understand the subtleties made by the public concerning the following terms: the mentally ill person (malade mental), the ex-psychiatric patient (ex-patient psychiatrique) and the person suffering from a mental health problem (personne souffrant d'un problème de santé mentale). Data collected from 255 francophone residents from the Montréal area show that the expression "ex-psychiatric patient" is less stigmatizing than the expressions "mentally ill person" or "person suffering from a mental health problem" (PSMHP), as it refers to a past event that is over and done with. The expression "mentally ill person" emphasizes the chronic nature of the health problem suffered by the individual, where as the PSMHP focuses on the person's potential for recovery. The expression "ex-psychiatric patient" points to the capacity to function normally in society.