October 22, 2008

The Effects of Stigma: Looking at Discrimination Among People with Mental Illnesses

Principal Investigator: Patrick W. Corrigan

Mental illness not only affects almost every facet of a person’s life, it can also affect how others treat them.  This study interviewed almost 2,000 people with mental illness to find out how they saw discrimination impacting their lives.  Centerstone was a part of this multi-state effort.

Though previous studies have estimated that 70% of all people with a mental illness experience stigma (Wahl, 1999), only 37.7% of the participants of this study reported having experienced discrimination due to mental illness (Corrigan, et al, 2003). Overall, the study found that 53% of the people surveyed reported having experienced some kind of discrimination. It also found that people in various subgroups experienced higher rates of discrimination. Another way to examine the data is to look at the proportion of members in each group who reported experiences of discrimination. For instance, 82% of all lesbians and gays reported that they had experienced discrimination for their sexual orientation. People within a minority race or with a physical disability also reported higher discrimination rates. This study also identified different areas that discrimination was most prevalent. Respondents said that they’d had the most difficulties with employment. Housing, interactions with law enforcement and education settings were also identified as places where they’d been discriminated against.  (Corrigan, et al, 2003)

One of the recommendations of the researchers was for organizations working on combating stigma work together. Since most people affected by stigma are affected on several different levels simultaneously (from gender to race to mental health diagnosis),  anti-stigma programs might benefit from being broader in their anti-discrimination efforts.

References
Corrigan, P., Thompson, V., Lambert, D., Sangster, Y., Noel, J.G., & Campbell, J. (2003). Perception of discrimination among persons with serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services. 54: 1105-1110.

Wahl , O.F. (1999). Mental health consumers' experience of stigma. Schizophrenia Bulletin 25: 467–478