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Self-stigma as a barrier to recovery: a longitudinal study

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Abstract

Stigma limits life opportunities of persons with mental illness. Self-stigma, the internalization of negative stereotypes, undermines empowerment and could hinder recovery. Here we examined self-stigma’s effect on recovery among 222 disability pensioners with mental illness over 2 years, controlling for age, gender, symptoms and recovery at baseline measured by the Recovery Assessment Scale. More self-stigma at baseline was associated with a significant decrease in recovery after 1 year (not significant after 2 years). An increase of self-stigma from baseline to follow-up predicted less recovery 1 and 2 years later. Interventions that reduce self-stigma could therefore improve recovery.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all participants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry II, University of Ulm and BKH Günzburg, Parkstrasse 11, 89073, Ulm, Germany

    Nathalie Oexle, Ziyan Xu & Nicolas Rüsch

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Mario Müller, Wolfram Kawohl, Sandra Viering, Christine Wyss & Stefan Vetter

Authors
  1. Nathalie Oexle
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  2. Mario Müller
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  3. Wolfram Kawohl
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  4. Ziyan Xu
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  5. Sandra Viering
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  6. Christine Wyss
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  7. Stefan Vetter
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  8. Nicolas Rüsch
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathalie Oexle.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the ethics committee of the canton of Zurich (reference number: KEK-ZH-NR: 2010 − 0311/0).

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Oexle, N., Müller, M., Kawohl, W. et al. Self-stigma as a barrier to recovery: a longitudinal study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 268, 209–212 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-017-0773-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-017-0773-2

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