Abstract

With functional problems resulting from the symptoms of their illness, people with mental illness also face the feeling of being rejected by other people, partly because of the fear of their specific and unpredictable reactions. The objective of this study was to determine the differences in knowledge and attitudes regarding psychiatric patients affecting their stigmatization, with respect to the type of employment (health and non-health professionals and psychiatric personnel), level of education (elementary and secondary school, undergraduate degree, university degree), gender, and psychiatric heredity in the family. We used a sample of 243 respondents (intentional sample of health (23.4%), non-health professionals (49%), and psychiatric personnel (27.6%), heterogeneous by socio-demographic characteristics) to examine knowledge and attitudes towards individuals with mental illness using appropriate measuring instruments. The Revised Scale for Measuring Attitudes toward Mental Patients, developed according to the scale of the Summer School of Psychology Students in 2003, and the Scale of Knowledge on Mental Patients (SKMP) taken from the study by Jokić-Begić, Kamenov, Lauri Korajlija, 2005, were applied. Psychiatric personnel were found to have more knowledge on the characteristics of individuals with mental illness as well as treatment and the development of mental illness regarding psychiatric patients compared with non-health and non-health professionals, and in men only compared with non-health professionals. Nonhealth and health professionals, to a greater extent than psychiatric personnel, feel that direct contact with individuals with mental illness was desirable, except in men where no differences were found. The more educated respondents had greater knowledge about individuals with mental illness and largely believed that individuals with mental illness are able to work and participate in the society as well as that direct contact with them was desirable. Respondents with lower educational status were more likely to believe that psychiatric patients deserve respect and compassion as equal members of society. Significant differences were found between subjects with and without psychiatric heredity in relation to one aspect of the attitude. Respondents without psychiatric heredity believe that people with mental illness deserve more respect and compassion. The results provide the framework guidelines needed to design the process of destigmatization of psychiatric patients in the populations of health and non-health professionals as well as people of different levels of education, especially those who work with psychiatric patients or come into contact with them after hospitalization.