Department of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2024 Jan 5;19(1):e0296221. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296221. eCollection 2024.
Clinical depression ranks as a leading cause of disease and disability in young people worldwide, but it is widely stigmatized. The aim of this qualitative research was to gather young people's experiences of depression stigma and its impact on loneliness, social isolation, and mental health disclosure and secrecy. This novel information can then be used to guide psychosocial interventions for young people with depression.
This qualitative study included N = 28 young people aged 18-25 years (Mage = 21.30). Participants were recruited from the community who had high symptoms of depression (assessed through a pre-screen using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) with a benchmark score > 27) or had been recently diagnosed with depression by a medical professional. Semi-structured interviews were based on conceptual model drawings created by participants and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Four main themes emerged: 1) Depression secrecy: positive and negative aspects; 2) Depression disclosure: positive and negative aspects; 3) The solution is selective disclosure; and 4) Participants' recommendations do not align with personal preferences. In particular, the young people described non-disclosure as a way to be in control, but that secrecy prevented authentic engagement with others. Young people also described disclosure as eliciting more stigma but as necessary to gain help. Finally, the young people described struggling with knowing how much to disclose in relation to their mental health and with whom they could disclose.
This study provides new evidence of how young people with depression experience stigma and its effects on disclosure and mental health secrecy. Knowing how young people struggle with these issues can allow us to develop interventions to encourage them to come forward and discuss their mental health in order to receive appropriate support and treatment. We recommend young people be signposted and have access to mental health champions or nominated teachers in their schools or universities.
临床抑郁症是全球年轻人疾病和残疾的主要原因之一，但它广泛受到污名化。本项定性研究的目的是收集年轻人对抑郁症污名的体验，以及其对孤独感、社会隔离和心理健康披露与保密的影响。这些新信息可用于指导针对抑郁症青年的心理社会干预。
本项定性研究纳入了 28 名年龄在 18-25 岁之间的年轻人（Mage = 21.30）。参与者是从社区招募的，他们有较高的抑郁症状（通过使用心境和情绪问卷（MFQ）进行预筛查来评估，基准得分＞27）或最近被医疗专业人员诊断为抑郁症。半结构化访谈基于参与者创作的概念模型图进行，并采用主题分析法进行分析。
出现了 4 个主要主题：1）抑郁保密：积极和消极方面；2）抑郁披露：积极和消极方面；3）解决办法是选择性披露；4）参与者的建议与个人偏好不相符。特别是，年轻人描述保密是一种控制感的方式，但保密性阻碍了与他人的真实接触。年轻人还描述了披露会引起更多的污名化，但这是获得帮助的必要条件。最后，年轻人描述了在与心理健康有关的披露程度以及与谁可以披露方面感到挣扎。
本研究提供了新的证据，说明患有抑郁症的年轻人如何体验污名化及其对披露和心理健康保密的影响。了解年轻人在这些问题上的挣扎，可以帮助我们开发干预措施，鼓励他们主动讨论自己的心理健康问题，以获得适当的支持和治疗。我们建议为年轻人提供指导，并让他们获得心理健康拥护者或他们所在学校或大学的指定教师的支持。
