Impact of Self-Stigma and Social Stigma of Mental Illness on the Attitude of People towards Seeking Psychological Help

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of self /social stigma of mental illness, attitude of people towards seeking psychological help and the impact of self-stigma/social stigma of mental illness on the attitude of people towards seeking psychological help. Another objective of the study was to see the impact of demographics on the study variables. The sample comprised of 200 participants (males= 68 and females=132) between the age range of 20 to 60 years. Data was collected through convenient purposive sampling from the twin cities of Pakistan i.e. Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) (Fischer and Farina, 1995), Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSHS) (SSOSHS; Vogel et.al., 2006) and Social Stigma for Receiving Psychological Help Scale (SSRPHS) (SSPRH; Komiya et.al., 2000) were used for data collection. Results found moderate reliability for the psychometric properties of scales. The prevalence of attitude towards seeking psychological help was found to be 59.5%, self-stigma was 61 % and social stigma was 60% in the entire sample. There was significant negative correlation between Attitude towards seeking psychological help with self-stigma (r= -.01, p<.01) and social stigma (r= -.36, p<.01). Further results indicated that the impact of demographic variables (age, education, gender and marital status) on study variables (Attitude towards seeking psychological help, self stigma and social stigma) were non-significant. These findings suggested that perceived self stigma and social stigma does have an impact on the attitude of people towards seeking psychological help.