title: Students' perception about mental illness.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In developing countries like India, there are evidences that stigma associated with mental illness is increasing. As in parts of the developing world, with advancement of urbanization and rapid industrialization, people tend to react in a very peculiar and biased way when they confront a mentally ill person.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study aimed to find out students' opinion about mental illness. A total of 100 students (50 male and 50 female) from Ranchi University were purposively recruited for the study, and the 51-item Opinion about Mental Illness (OMI) Scale was administered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Majority of the students were from Hindu families, of whom 42 (84%) were males and 38 (68%) were females. With regard to OMI scale, the item, viz., 'The law should allow a woman to divorce her husband as soon as he has been confined in mental hospital with a severe mental illness', both male (46%) and female (56%) students were neutral (significant at 0.014, P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall no significant level of difference emerged between male and female students with regard to opinion about mental illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatric Social Work, RINPAS, Kanke, Ranchi.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Mahto
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chaudhury
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shantna