Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:09:13.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Attitudes towards the mentally ill in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Patrick Black ,
Martin Duffy ,
John Kieran ,
James Mallon  and
Bernadette M Murphy
James Mallon
Affiliation:
St. Brigids Hospital, Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland
Bernadette M Murphy
Affiliation:
St. Lomans Hospital, Dublin 20, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective: This survey attempts to ascertain the attitude of the general public towards the mentally ill and former psychiatric patients in Ireland. Method: A random selection of 155 adults were interviewed using Likert-type scales (29 items). Results: Factor analysis revealed four main attitude dimensions: fear, lack of sympathy, personal rejection and perceived community rejection. Overall, respondents express a low level of fear and a high level of sympathy towards the mentally ill. Lack of sympathy correlated highly with older age group, lower educational level and lower socio-economic class of respondent. Respondents with higher self-reported knowledge about mental illness were less fearful and more sympathetic towards the mentally ill. Conclusions: The findings are encouraging to the development of community psychiatric services and support the usefulness of public education in the area of mental health.

Keywords

AttitudesMental illnessCommunity psychiatryEducation
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 1993 , pp. 75 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Commission of inquiry on mental illness. 1966 Report. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1966.Google Scholar
2.Wing, JK. Reasoning about madness. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978: 194–244.Google Scholar
3.Johannsen, WJ. Attitudes towards mental patients: a review of empirical research. Mental Hygiene 1969; 53: 218–28.Google Scholar
4.Phillips, D. Rejection: a possible consequence of seeking help for mental disorders. American Sociological Review 1963; 28: 963–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Rabkin, J. Opinions about mental illness: a review of the literature. Psychol Bull 1972; 77: 153–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Segal, SP. Attitudes toward the mentally ill: a review. Social Work 1978; 23: 211–7.Google ScholarPubMed
7.Bhugra, D. Attitudes towards mental illness, a review of the literature. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1989: 80: 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Nunnally, J. Popular conceptions of mental health: their development and change. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1961.Google Scholar
9.Brochman, J, D'Arcy, C. Correlates of attitudinal social distance towards the mentally ill: a review and re-survey. Social Psychiatry 1979; 13: 69–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Whatley, C. Social attitudes towards discharged patients. Social Problems 1958–1959; 6: 313–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Freeman, HE. Attitudes towards mental illness among relatives of former patients. American Sociological Review 1961; 26: 59–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Lamontagne, Y, Verreault, R. The use of mass media in mental health. Can J Psychiatry 1986: 31: 617–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Griffiths, W, Knutson, AL. The role of mass media in public health. Am J Public Health 1960; 50: 515–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Mendelsohn, H. Some reasons why information campaigns can succeed. Public Opinion Quarterly 1973; 37: 50–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Day, DM, Page, S. Portrayal of mental illness in Canadian newspapers. Can J Psychiatry 1986; 31: 813–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Cumming, E, Cumming, J. Closed ranks: an experiment in mental health. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Gatherer, Ried. Public attitudes and mental health education. Northampton: Northamptonshire Health Department, 1968.Google Scholar
18.Pretty, PL. An experiment in changing attitudes to mental illness. Health Education Journal 1982; 41: 22–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Battaglia, J, Coverdale, JH, Bushong, CP. Evaluation of a mental illness awareness week program in public schools. Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147: 324–9.Google ScholarPubMed
20.Mental Health Association of Ireland. Report on mental health education. Dublin: Mental Health Association of Ireland, 1973.Google Scholar
21.Moran, RA. Conceptualisation of mental illness and attitudes towards the mentally ill and ex-mental patients: structure, determinates and correlates in an Irish sample [MSc thesis]. Cork: University College Cork, 1977.Google Scholar
22.O'Mahony, PD. Attitudes to the mentally ill: a trait attribution approach. Social Psychiatry 1979; 14: 95–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.O'Shea, B, McGennis, A. ECT: lay attitudes and experiences – a pilot study. Ir Med J 1983; 76: 40–3.Google ScholarPubMed
24.McKeon, P, Carrick, S. Public attitudes to depression: a national survey. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 1991; 8: 116–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.Nie, NH, Hull, NC, Jenkins, JG, et al.Statistical package for the social sciences (version 4/PC). 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975.Google Scholar
26.Central Statistics Office. Labour force survey, 1989. Dublin: Central Statistics Office, 1990.Google Scholar
27.Central Statistics Office. Census 86, local population report. Dublin: Central Statistics Office, 1987.Google Scholar
28.Lagos, JM, Perlmutter, K, Saexinger, K. Fear of the mentally ill: empirical support for the common man's response. Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134: 1134–7.Google ScholarPubMed
29.Angermeyer, MC, Link, BG, Majcher-Angermeyer, A. Stigma perceived by patients attending modern treatment settings: some unanticipated effects of community psychiatry reforms. J Nerv Ment Dis 1987; 175: 4–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Study Group on the Development of the Psychiatric Services. The psychiatric services – planning for the future. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1984: 8.Google Scholar