An internet-based survey in Japan concerning social distance and stigmatization toward the mentally ill among doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and the general public.

Stigma associated with psychiatric disorders tends to be manifested as negative attitudes or behavior toward the mentally ill. It has negative influences, such as leading to difficulty in establishing trust-based relationships and interfering with medical treatment. In order to reduce such stigma, it is necessary to clarify its extent and characteristics in healthcare professionals. Considering this, an Internet-based questionnaire survey was conducted, involving doctors (n = 186), nurses (n = 161), and pharmacists (n = 192) in comparison with the general public (n = 331), and using the Whatley Social Distance Scale (WSDS) and Index of Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (IATM) as stigma-related indices. Median total WSDS scores and interquartile range were as follows: doctors: 15.5(12.0-18.0), nurses: 14.0(12.0-16.5), pharmacists: 15.0(13.0-17.0), and the general public: 16.0(13.0-18.0). Similarly, median IATM scores were as follows: doctors: 39.0(36.0-42.0), nurses: 39.0(37.0-43.0), pharmacists: 40.0(36.0-42.0), and the general public: 37.0(33.0-41.0). IATM scores were significantly higher in the professional groups than the general public group. Both healthcare professionals and the general public with prior exposure to mental illness were more favorable attitudes toward the mentally ill. Especially among healthcare professionals, they working in psychiatric departments were more favorable attitudes. These results suggest that the stigma of healthcare professionals toward the mentally ill was shown to have a smaller and relatively favorable attitude than that of the general public. In order to correct the stigma it was suggested that a good contact experience with the patient such as work and training in psychiatry is effective.