ArticleEuropean psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists2022
Changes in mental illness stigma over 30 years - Improvement, persistence, or deterioration?
Article in European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- "I Was Embarrassed to Go and See a Counsellor": Stigma Experienced by Individuals Diagnosed with Mental Illness (A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Does the peer-led Honest, Open, Proud program reduce stigma's impact for everyone? An individual participant data meta-regression analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2023Pooled it
- Promoting substance use stigma resistance through an automated text message intervention (project RESTART): Outcomes of a pilot feasibility trial.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2025Trial
- I Didn't Want the Psychotic Thing to Get Out to Anyone at All: Adolescents with Early Onset Psychosis Managing Stigma.Culture, medicine and psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Stigma toward persons with mental illnesses in prison.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Views on mental health research in the context of schizophrenia: perspectives of peer support workers and researchers with lived experience - a qualitative study.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Reducing self-stigma and supporting disclosure in adults with mental illness.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2026Article
- Beyond awareness: 25 years of population data on the impact of Australia's Beyond Blue.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Effects of Anti-Stigma Messages on Public Stigmatisation of Gambling Disorder: a Randomised Online Experiment.Journal of gambling studies · 2026Article
- Public stigma of mental illness in Australia: shifts in attitudes across nationally representative surveys in 2011 and 2024.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Trends in emotional distress among childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer survivors: A decade-long study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Comparing undergraduates' stigma toward peers with criminal records and mental health disorders.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Stigmatisation of Gambling Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder and Internet Use Disorder: Results of an Experimental Vignette Study.Journal of gambling studies · 2026Article
- Abolition of coercion in psychiatry on the horizon? A descriptive ecologic data study from six European countries.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Stigma is on the rise.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026Article
- Rethinking stigma reduction programs for people with severe mental illness.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2026Article
- Mobile apps for psychotic disorders: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Dignity in mental health care: the conceptual connections between sense of dignity, stigma and self-stigma among people with mental disorder diagnoses.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Differentiating the potential of continuum beliefs to reduce the public stigma of schizophrenia, depression, and alcohol dependence: associations with illness recognition and treatment recommendations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Initial effects of Mental Health First Aid training on mental health literacy, social distance, stigma, mental health, and quality of life in the German adult population - Findings from a pilot study.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLarge efforts have been made to erase the stigma of mental illness, but it is unclear whether they have succeeded on a population level. We examine how attitudes toward people with depression or schizophrenia have evolved in Germany since 1990, and whether there are different developments for both disorders.
methodsUsing data from the three decades, four wave repeated cross-sectional representative population study in the "old" (western) states in Germany with surveys in 1990 (
resultsSocial distance worsened in six out of seven situations for schizophrenia, whereas improving in two out of seven situations for depression. Emotions related to fear and uneasiness increased for schizophrenia, whereas tending to decrease for depression. Pro-social reactions like the desire to help increased for depression, but decreased for schizophrenia. Initially observed differences, favoring depression over schizophrenia, widened over the 30-year study period. For schizophrenia, the biggest negative changes occurred between 1990 and 2001, whereas some improvements with regard to depression occurred more recently.
conclusionContrary to expectations, stigma has become more severe regarding acute schizophrenia in Germany over the last 30 years, whereas only slightly improving for depression. The apparent normalization of mental health problems seems not to directly translate into improving attitudes toward people with severe mental illness. Re-focusing of anti-stigma efforts on people with severe mental illness seems necessary.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.