Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally - 1. It is characterised by positive (Type 1) symptoms e.g. hallucinations, and negative (Type 2) symptoms e.g. alogia – poverty of speech -2. With its onset in late adolescence or early adulthood, where for men it usually occurs during the ages of 18 to 25, and for women, 25 to 35, and the lack of fully effective treatments, it contributes massively to the global burden of disease -3. Schizophrenia also has a lifetime prevalence of 1% (Mathers et al, 1996) -2. Research has progressively revealed that the outcomes for those with severe mental illnesses encompass a wide range of challenges -4. One of the main challenges they face is psychiatric stigma
…show more content…
Crisp et al (2000) conducted a survey of 1737 adults in the UK and was found that more than 70% of the general public viewed people with schizophrenia as being dangerous and unpredictable. Another survey conducted of medical and nursing undergraduates showed that 78% of them perceived patients with schizophrenia as being dangerous or violent, and 40% of them felt hesitant about accepting them as they are believed to highly contrast the society’s norm (Llerena et al, 2002). This clearly indicates that stigmatisation of individuals with schizophrenia is prevalent within a wide range of people, whether it be the general public, or medical and nursing students. This general stigma creates a division between ‘normal’ individuals and individuals with mental health, as the public generally tend to seek social distance from those with schizophrenia (Angermeyer and Matschinger, 2003 and Martin et al, 2000). This in turn makes individuals with schizophrenia to form a barrier when meeting basic needs (Link et al, 1989; Wahl and Harman; …show more content…
by feeling or being discriminated against, by delaying seeking help and worsening a person’s social condition. Due to this, one important goal in promoting mental health is by reducing such stigmatising attitudes in the general population. Research has indicated that empathy has beneficial effects on attitudes and behaviour, whereas a lack of empathy has negative effects on attitudes and behaviour. Empathy can be defined as an ‘oriental emotional response congruent with the perceived welfare of another’ (Batson, 1991). Research stipulates that feeling empathetic towards members of a stigmatised group can improve attitudes towards the group as a whole. This was shown by the results of 2 experiments with 202 undergraduates. Levels of induced empathy was tested towards young women with AIDS (experiment 1) and towards the homeless (experiment 2). The results provided support for the idea that inducing empathy for a member of a stigmatised group could improve attitudes toward the group as a whole (Batson et al, 1997). Another supporting study by Dearing and Steadman (2008, 2009) found the participants concluded that simulated hallucinations gave them an insider’s perspective of the difficulties faced by people whom experience hallucinations and provoked empathy and respect for them too. Conversely, they found that the increased empathy towards those with schizophrenia also
Crisp et al (2000) conducted a survey of 1737 adults in the UK and was found that more than 70% of the general public viewed people with schizophrenia as being dangerous and unpredictable. Another survey conducted of medical and nursing undergraduates showed that 78% of them perceived patients with schizophrenia as being dangerous or violent, and 40% of them felt hesitant about accepting them as they are believed to highly contrast the society’s norm (Llerena et al, 2002). This clearly indicates that stigmatisation of individuals with schizophrenia is prevalent within a wide range of people, whether it be the general public, or medical and nursing students. This general stigma creates a division between ‘normal’ individuals and individuals with mental health, as the public generally tend to seek social distance from those with schizophrenia (Angermeyer and Matschinger, 2003 and Martin et al, 2000). This in turn makes individuals with schizophrenia to form a barrier when meeting basic needs (Link et al, 1989; Wahl and Harman; …show more content…
by feeling or being discriminated against, by delaying seeking help and worsening a person’s social condition. Due to this, one important goal in promoting mental health is by reducing such stigmatising attitudes in the general population. Research has indicated that empathy has beneficial effects on attitudes and behaviour, whereas a lack of empathy has negative effects on attitudes and behaviour. Empathy can be defined as an ‘oriental emotional response congruent with the perceived welfare of another’ (Batson, 1991). Research stipulates that feeling empathetic towards members of a stigmatised group can improve attitudes towards the group as a whole. This was shown by the results of 2 experiments with 202 undergraduates. Levels of induced empathy was tested towards young women with AIDS (experiment 1) and towards the homeless (experiment 2). The results provided support for the idea that inducing empathy for a member of a stigmatised group could improve attitudes toward the group as a whole (Batson et al, 1997). Another supporting study by Dearing and Steadman (2008, 2009) found the participants concluded that simulated hallucinations gave them an insider’s perspective of the difficulties faced by people whom experience hallucinations and provoked empathy and respect for them too. Conversely, they found that the increased empathy towards those with schizophrenia also