The professional ideas' influence on the perception of the image of a mentally ill person

• Main Authors: Dolnykova A.A., Demidova L.Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education 2015-01-01
• Series: Консультативная психология и психотерапия
• Subjects: stigmatization; mental ill patient; mental ill patient's image; psychology students; communication with mental ill patients
• Online Access: http://psyjournals.ru/en/mpj/2015/n1/75877.shtml
• ISSN: 2075-3470; 2311-9446

People with different level of psychiatric knowledge have different attitudes towards mental ill people. We compared three groups of people: clinical psychologists, psychologists (both groups — students just before graduation), economists. Both clinical psychologists and psychologists (as people who have scientific knowledge about psychiatry) are less stigmatizing mentally sick people than economists, who mostly haven't scientific knowledge in this area. People who met mental patient also stigmatize this kind of people less than people who never contacted with psychiatric patients.