Attitudes towards mental disorders and psychiatric treatment: changes over time in a Swedish population
2008 (English)In: Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, ISSN 0803-9488, E-ISSN 1502-4725, Vol. 62, no 3, p. 192-197Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Over the years a lot of research of attitudes towards mental disorders, towards people with mental illness and towards psychiatric services and treatment have shown a persistent negative attitude. There are, however, few studies on changes over time. The aim of this study was to compare responses to a questionnaire on attitudes towards mental disorders and psychiatric patients and the perception of psychiatric treatment in a community in northern Sweden in 1976 and 2003. In 1976 a random sample of 391 persons 18-70 years of age were asked and in 2003 a new sample of 500 persons from the same community were approached with the same questions. There are considerable changes over time. In 2003, almost 90% agree to the statement that mental illness harms the reputation more than physical illness, compared with 50% in 1976. In 2003, 51% agreed to the statement "Most people with mental disorders commit violent acts more than others" compared with 24% in 1976. There is an apparent ambivalence towards psychiatric treatment. Whilst 88% would advice a person with mental problems to contact a psychiatrist, still 26% would not like themselves to be referred to a psychiatrist. We argue that improving treatment methods is as important as changing attitudes through accurate information.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2008. Vol. 62, no 3, p. 192-197
Keywords [en]
Attitudes, Mental disorders, Psychiatric treatments, Stigma
National Category
Psychiatry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-1997DOI: 10.1080/08039480801962855ISI: 000257583200004Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-47949129268OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-1997DiVA, id: diva2:118659
2008-11-072008-11-072018-03-13Bibliographically approved