Perceived Stigma among Recipients of Mental Health Care in the General Canadian Population.
The Mental Health Experiences Scale is a measure of perceived stigma, the perception of negative attitudes and behaviours by people with mental disorders. A recent Canadian survey (Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health) included this scale, providing an opportunity to describe perceived stigma in relation to diagnosis for the first time in the Canadian general population.



The survey interview began with an assessment of whether respondents had utilised services for an "emotional or mental health problem" in the preceding 12 months. The subset reporting service utilisation were asked whether others "held negative opinions" about them or "treated them unfairly" for reasons related to their mental health. The analysis reported here used frequencies, means, cross-tabulation, and logistic regression, all incorporating recommended replicate sampling weights and bootstrap variance estimation procedures.



Stigma was perceived by 24.4% of respondents accessing mental health services. The frequency was higher among younger respondents (<55 years), those who were not working, those reporting only fair or poor mental health, and the subset who reported having received a diagnosis of a mental disorder. Sex and education level were not associated with perceived stigma. People with schizophrenia reported stigmatization only slightly more frequently than those with mood and anxiety disorders.



Stigmatization is a common, but not universal, experience among Canadians using services for mental health reasons. Stigmatization was a problem for a sizeable minority of respondents with mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders as well as bipolar and psychotic disorders.
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Mathison Centre for Research & Education in Mental Health, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta Alberta Innovates, Health Solutions, Edmonton, Alberta patten@ucalgary.ca.
Scott B
SB
Patten
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
Jeanne V A
JV
Williams
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
Dina H
DH
Lavorato
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Mathison Centre for Research & Education in Mental Health, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Calgary, Alberta.
Andrew G M
AG
Bulloch
University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec.
Manon
M
Charbonneau
Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario Department of Psychiatry, Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario.
Mamta
M
Gautam
Western and Northern Health Zones, Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia.
Pippa
P
Moss
Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
Susan
S
Abbey
Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario.
Heather
H
Stuart
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011287:Prejudice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057545:Social Stigma
cross-sectional study; discrimination; epidemiologic study; mental disorders; mental health; perceived stigma; population study; stigmatization