In any year, one in four British adults will experience a mental disorder (Singleton, Bumpstead, O’Brien, Lee, & Meltzer, 2001), but barriers to accessing treatment remain, one being fear of stigmatization. In this study perceptions of the stigma associated with mental illness were experimentally manipulated and perceived public stigma of help-seeking, attitudes to mental illness, self-stigma, and attitudes to help-seeking were measured. Results indicated that lowering perceived social stigma of mental illness reduced perceived public stigma attached to help-seeking, but also resulted in less positive attitudes to help-seeking, when compared to a neutral condition. The relationship between perceived societal stigma of mental illness and attitudes to help-seeking was mediated by perceived public stigma of seeking psychological help. This research raises questions about the effect of anti-stigma campaigns, which aim to change perceptions about stigma but may have a negative effect on attitudes to help-seeking.

The diploma thesis is devoted to the area of mental health problems / mental illnesses as a possible topic of general primary prevention in the school environment. It points out, that the mental health and illness is not being systematically solved. In the area of primary prevention is not given the kind of attention it deserves. In the theoretical part, basic notions are defined first, such as mental health and illness, risk behavior, stigma and prevention. The focus is on the period of adolescence and the perspective of possible links between risky behaviors and mental health problems/illnesses. The theoretical part of the work is also centered on the coping strategies of adolescents and the area of general primary prevention of risk behavior in the current concept of the Ministry of Education. That includes ensuring and controlling the quality and effectiveness of primary prevention programs. In brief, follow-up care - supported education and early intervention is discussed. The aim of the work is to map the relation of the needs of young people with mental illnesses and primary prevention. In addition, the findings will be a base for recommendations how to incorporate the topic of mental health and illness into the existing system of primary prevention. The methodology is based on a qualitative research...

Background: Public attitudes toward depression and help-seeking behaviour are important factors influencing depressed people to obtain professional help and adequate treatment. OSPI-Europe is a multi-level suicide prevention programme including a public awareness campaign. It was implemented in four regions of four European countries (Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Portugal). This paper reports the results of the evaluation of the campaign, including its visibility and effects of the campaign on stigma associated with depression and help-seeking behaviour. Methods: A representative general population survey (N = 4004) including measures on personal stigma, perceived stigma, openness to help, perceived value of help, and socio-demographic variables was conducted in the four intervention and four control regions in a cross-sectional pre-post design. Results: The public awareness campaign was considerably more visible in Germany and Portugal compared to Ireland and Hungary. Visibility was further affected by age and years of schooling. Personal stigma, perceived stigma and openness toward professional help varied significantly across the four countries. Respondents in the intervention regions showed significantly less personal depression stigma than respondents in the control regions after the campaign. Respondents of the intervention region who were aware of the campaign reported more openness toward seeking professional help than respondents who were unaware of it. Conclusion: The OSPI-Europe awareness campaign was visible and produced some positive results. At the same time, it proved to be difficult to show strong, measurable and unambiguous effects, which is in line with previous studies. Public awareness campaigns as conducted within OSPI-Europe can contribute to improved attitudes and knowledge about depression in the general public and produce synergistic effects, in particular when the dissemination of awareness campaign materials is simultaneously reinforced by other intervention levels of a multi-level intervention programme. Limitations: The survey was cross-sectional and based on self-report, so no causal inferences could be drawn.

No description available.

No description available.