Are mental illnesses stigmatized for the same reasons? Identifying the stigma-related beliefs underlying common mental illnesses

Background: Although mental health stigmatization has myriad pernicious consequences, it remains unknown whether mental disorders are stigmatized for the same reasons. Aims: This study identified the stigma-related beliefs that were associated with several common mental illnesses (Study 1), and the extent to which those beliefs predicted stigmatization (Study 2). Methods: In Study 1, we used multidimensional scaling to identify the stigma-related beliefs attributed to nine common mental disorders (e.g. depression, schizophrenia). Study 2 explored whether beliefs commonly associated with depression predicted its stigmatization. Results: In Study 1, we found that the nine mental illnesses differed from each other on two dimensions: social desirability and controllability. In Study 2, we found that regardless of participants’ own depression status, their perceptions that depression is controllable predicted depression-related stigmatization. Conclusions: Our results suggest that stigmatization toward different mental illnesses stem from combinations of different stigmatized beliefs.