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Attitude towards psychiatric patients: a pilot study in a northern Italian town

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

R. Vezzoli ,
L. Archiati ,
C. Buizza ,
P. Pasqualetti ,
G. Rossi  and
R. Pioli
R. Vezzoli
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS ‘Centro S. Giovanni di Dio’ Fatebenefratelli, via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy
L. Archiati
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS ‘Centro S. Giovanni di Dio’ Fatebenefratelli, via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy
C. Buizza*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS ‘Centro S. Giovanni di Dio’ Fatebenefratelli, via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy
P. Pasqualetti
Affiliation:
AFaR – CRCCS Ospedale Fatebenefratelli, Isola Tiberina, Rome, Italy
G. Rossi
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS ‘Centro S. Giovanni di Dio’ Fatebenefratelli, via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy
R. Pioli
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS ‘Centro S. Giovanni di Dio’ Fatebenefratelli, via Pilastroni 4, Brescia, Italy
*
*Correspondence and reprints: Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico “Centro S. Giovanni di Dio - FBF”, via Pilastroni, 4, 25125 Brescia, Italy. E-mail address:wpa.irccs@oh-fbf.it (C. Buizza).
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Summary

The stigmatisation of the psychiatric patient is still a strong barrier to the integration process of these subjects in our society. Therefore, it is necessary to identify what types of prejudices exist and the types of variables with which they are linked, in order to plan strategies to reduce them. In this exploratory study we administered a semi-structured interview to 303 subjects in order to examine the relationships between social attitudes towards mental disorders and some social demographic variables, the information about mental disorders and the previous ‘contacts’ with psychiatric patients.

The data analysis shows that there is a relationship between knowledge of psychiatric patients and a more positive attitude towards them (i.e., less fear, more integration and work opportunities). This study is to be considered preliminary as far as people’s attitudes towards psychiatric patients are concerned. This result encourages the planning and implementation of sensitisation and information programs concerning mental disorders, in the sense that increasing the knowledge of mental disorders could lead to significant achievements in the important fight against the stigma surrounding psychiatric patients.

Keywords

attitudes toward the mentally illcommunity carestigma
Type
Original Articles
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 16 , Issue 8 , December 2001 , pp. 451 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS

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