Open AccessStigmatization Toward Patients with Mental Health Diagnoses: Tehran’s Stakeholders’ Perspectives
Author(s) -
Zahra Farsi,
Arsia Taghva,
Samantha Butler,
Hamed Tabesh,
Yavar Javanmard,
Afsaneh Atashi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences/iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.28
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1735-9287
pISSN - 1735-8639
DOI - 10.5812/ijpbs.93851
Subject(s) - mental health , stigma (botany) , nonprobability sampling , grounded theory , qualitative research , psychiatry , social stigma , psychology , mental illness , population , medicine , clinical psychology , family medicine , environmental health , social science , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , sociology
Background: The stigma associated with mental health disorders has an enormous impact on decisions concerning receiving mental health services. Objectives: The current qualitative study aimed to describe the stigma toward mental disorders in Tehran, Iran. Methods: The current grounded theory study conducted from 2013 to 2016 in Tehran (Iran). Fourteen participants were sampled using purposive and theoretical sampling techniques. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, focused groups, and written narratives. The Corbin and Strauss coding paradigm (2008) was used to analyze data. Results: Three main categories of stigmatization toward patients with mental health diagnoses were extracted: (1) barriers to stigma reduction; (2) strategies to reduce stigma; and (3) outcomes of stigma reduction such as negative consequences of stigma toward mental disorders and positive impacts of stigma reduction toward mental disorders. Conclusions: To improve mental health services for patients in Tehran (Iran), it is imperative to reduce the stigma toward mental disorders, educate the community, including the general population and healthcare professionals, and remove existing barriers to receive mental health services.