Attitudes towards people with depression and schizophrenia among social service workers in Denmark
Sammanfattning
Background: Mental health-related stigma is a major public health issue, and is an obstacle to the possibility
for successful treatment, recovery, and reintegration.
Aim: To examine attitudes towards mental illness among employees in the social services.
Methods: The study design was part of a large randomized trial, and data presented in this study are
baseline data from this trial. Respondents completed a baseline questionnaire to assess the respondents’
attitudes.
Results: A significant difference was found between employees’ personal attitudes towards depression
and schizophrenia. The same significant difference was found in the employees’ perceived attitudes.
Furthermore, a significant difference was found between the employees’ personal and perceived attitudes.
A significant difference was found between the respondents wish for social distance towards
depression and schizophrenia in all cases, except regarding the willingness to provide a job at one’s
own workplace.
Conclusion: Employees in the social services are comparable to the general public concerning attitudes
towards mental illness.
Implications: The results indicate that the employees in social services could have great use of gaining
more knowledge about mental illness and ways in which to recognize a mental illness, in order to be
able to offer the right kind of help and reduce the treatment gap concerning people suffering from
mental illness.