Abstract
Objective
This study assessed public perceptions and attitudes towards and causal beliefs about mental health problems in Singapore – a multi-racial country in South-East Asia.
Method
A nation-wide survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted on those aged between 15 and 69 years.
Results
The overall response rate was 68.1% with a total of 2,632 respondents. About 38.3% (95% CI, 36.4–40.2) believed that people with mental health problems were dangerous and 49.6% (95% CI, 47.7–51.5) felt that the public should be protected from them. A negative attitude towards mental health problems correlated with greater age and less education. The Chinese were more likely to want to hide their illness should they become mentally unwell while the Malays seemed to have a more tolerant attitude (P = 0.032).
Conclusion
Public awareness and anti-stigma campaigns should focus on those commonly held misconceptions and target specific populations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angermeyer MC, Dietrich S (2006) Public beliefs about and attitudes towards people with mental illness: a review of population studies. Acta Psychiatr Scand 113:163–179
Bond MH, Hwang KK (1986) The social psychology of Chinese people. In: Bond MH (ed) The psychology of the Chinese people. Oxford University Press (China) Ltd., pp 213–264
Cooper JE, Sartorious N (1977) Cultural and temporal variations in schizophrenia: a speculation on the importance of industrialization. Br J Psychiatry 130:50–55
Crisp AH, Gelder MG, Rix S, Meltzer WI, Rowlands OJ (2000) Stigmatization of people with mental illness. Br J Psychiatry 177:4–7
Dols MW (1977) The black death in the Middle East. Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ)
Edgerton RB (1966) Conceptions of psychosis in four East African societies. Am Anthropol 66:408–425
Eroren M, Angermeyer MC, Schulze B (1998) The psychiatric epidemiology of violent behavior. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 33(Suppl 1):S13–23
Glendinning R, Buchman T, Rose N (2002) Well? What do you think? A National Scottish survey of public attitudes to mental health, wellbeing and mental health problems. Scottish Executive Research website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk accessed on 13 Apr 2006
Kua EH, Chew PH, Ko SM (1993) Spirit possession and healing among Chinese psychiatric patients. Acta Psychiatr Scand 88:447–450
Link BG, Phelan JC, Bresnahan M, Stueve A, Pescosolido BA (1999) Public conceptions of mental illness: labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance. Am J Public Health 89:1328–1333
Littlewood R (1998) Cultural variation in the stigmatization of mental illness. Lancet 352:1056–1057
Matschinger H, Angermeyer MC (1996) Lay beliefs about the causes of mental disorders: a new methodological approach. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 31:309–315
Mental Health (1999) A report of the surgeon general. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health Service
Phillips MR, Li YY, Stroup S, Xin LH (2000) Causes of schizophrenia reported by patients’ family members in China. Br J Psychiatry 177:20–25
Tan CT, Chee KT, Long FY (1981) Psychiatric patients who seek traditional healers in Singapore. Singapore Med J 22:643–647
Acknowledgements
This study is funded in part by the by the National Medical Research Council of Singapore and the National Healthcare Group Cluster Research Fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chong, S.A., Verma, S., Vaingankar, J.A. et al. Perception of the public towards the mentally ill in developed Asian country. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 42, 734–739 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0213-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0213-0