This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Thesen, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Thesen, J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Being a psychiatric patient in the community- reclassified as the stigmatized "other' '

Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Division for General Practice, University of Bergen, Norway, Janecke.Thesen{at}isf.uib.no

Aims: To explore the experiences of psychiatric patients living in six rural communities in Norway from a primary care perspective. Methods: A "Knowledge workshop'' (KW) was designed. It was a special kind of meeting between users of services for people with mental illness and service providers. The process and outcome were documented on fl ipcharts and audiotape and analysed by a qualitative method. Results: A main statement was constructed in order to capture the essence of meaning in the 10 main themes identified in the analysis. The statement is mainly about the process and state of being reclassified as a stigmatized "other'' , with serious consequences for both self-esteem and public esteem. The consequences include isolation and loneliness, low self-esteem, no paid work, lack of money, discrimination, and harassment. Other consequences include altered behaviour from others, lack of necessary conditions for empowerment, and the danger of becoming visible as mentally ill. Attitudinal change is called for. Conclusions: Although the stigma of mental illness is a well-known and much discussed fact, it has so far not really been included in the professional knowledge base. It is still practically absent from discussions of quality of care. In order for services to be relevant to people who need them, professionals can no longer ignore issues that are of major importance for users. Stigma must thus be included in the conceptual thinking about serving people with mental illness. The inclusion of stigma as an issue for quality of care could be a fruitful way forward.

Key Words: deinstitutionalization • empowerment • family medicine • general practice • mental illness • oppression • qualitative method • quality of care • service users • stigma.

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 29, No. 4, 248-255 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/14034948010290040901


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Stige, K. Malterud, and T. Midtgarden Toward an Agenda for Evaluation of Qualitative Research Qual Health Res, October 1, 2009; 19(10): 1504 - 1516. [Abstract] [PDF]