title: A questionnaire to assess social stigma.
abstract: Psychiatric patients often suffer for two reasons: due to the illness and due to the social stigma of mental illness, that increases the uneasiness and psychic pain of the person suffering from serious psychiatric disorder. This unwell person is often the object of stigma because he is "different" from others, and he also can be margenalised by society. In this study we intend to assess whether these margenalising attitudes might be also present among mental health professionals who have presented psychic problems in a previous period of their life, against sick persons suffering of the same illness even if he is a mental health professional. Two questionnaires have been developed, one for professionals and another for the patients, with the aim of identifying these marginalising attitudes. We intend that this study shall be a multicenter, observational and international study, promoted by the Mental Health Dept. of Naples (ASL Naples 3 South, Italy).
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Department of Torre del Greco, Naples, Italy, mtavormina@virgilio.it.
authors.forename: Maurilio Giuseppe Maria
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Tavormina
authors.forename: Romina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tavormina
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nemoianni
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tavormina
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010815:Physician Impairment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057545:Social Stigma; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires