Perceived stigma in patients affected by psychosis: Is there an impact on relapse?

Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) considersstigma of mental illness as a crucial problem (WHO, 2001). Stigmacontributes to the onset (Morgan et al., 2010) and the outcome ofpeople affected by schizophrenia (Himan, 2015).Objectives To evaluate the perception of patients affected by psychoticdisorders of being stigmatized by the community.Aims To compare the perception of stigma among subgroups ofpatients at different stage of their disorder.Methods Thirty-five patients affected by a first-episode of psychosis(FEP) and 96 patients affected by chronic psychosis wererecruited. The Devaluation of Consumers Scale (DCS) and the Devaluationof Consumer Families Scale (DCFS) were administered toassess the perceived public stigma (Struening et al., 2001). The PositiveAnd Negative Schizophrenic Symptoms Scale (PANSS) (Kayet al., 1987) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) (Goldmanet al., 1992) were administered to assess psychotic symptomsand global level of functioning.Results Patients affected by chronic psychosis perceived higherdevaluation against mental disorders than patients with arecent onset of psychosis (Mann–Whitney’s U = 910.500, P = 0.017).DCS and DCFS correlated with increased voluntary admissions(Rho = 0.355, P = 0.002; Rho = 0.257, P = 0.029) and DCS withincreased compulsory admissions (Rho = 0.349, P = 0.003). Onlyamong chronic patients, DCS factor 2 was related to global levelof functioning (Rho = 0.217, P = 0.041).Conclusions Patients affected by chronic psychotic disordersperceived a more pessimistic attitude of the community towardstheir participation in social and community life and this is relatedto increased admissions and disability.Disclosure of interest The authors have not supplied their declarationof competing interest.