Attitudes of mental health workers toward people with schizophrenia

Objective: Stigma is a social and universal phenomenon which constitutes the core of various social barriers. Stigmatizing attitudes of mental health workers influence the outcome of patients and affect their recovery. Our purpose was to determine some attitudes and social distance of mental health workers toward people with schizophrenia.

Methods: 517 mental health workers were surveyed at two national conferences in Argentina.

Results: More than 90% believed that patients have the right to know their diagnosis, but only 64% informed it. Psychiatrists and men professionals were more likely to inform the diagnosis. Eighteen per cent thought that the voting right of people with schizophrenia should be revoked, 13% believed that this group should not have children and 63.7% thought that they should not be mental health professionals. Only 10% believed that people with schizophrenia can recover completely. There was a statistical difference in the social distance according to health workers' gender, years of experience and the percentage of patients assisted.

Conclusions: There exist social distance and stigmatizing attitudes toward people with schizophrenia among mental health workers. The contact could help to reduce social distance. Anti-stigmatizing education programs should be directed toward mental health workers since their initial training.