OBJECTIVE The extant literature describes stigma in two forms, public stigma and self-stigma. Public stigma pertains to negative social behaviors, reactions, attitudes, and beliefs directed toward people with mental illness and among persons with mental illness. Self-stigma concerns the internalized effects of public stigma. Although both types of stigma have negative impacts on people with men...

People with mental illness often internalize negative stereotypes, resulting in self-stigma and low self-esteem ("People with mental illness are bad and therefore I am bad, too"). Despite strong evidence for self-stigma's negative impact as assessed by self-report measures, it is unclear whether self-stigma operates in an automatic, implicit manner, potentially outside conscious awareness and c...

Background and aims Few studies have examined the stigma of problem gambling and little is known about those who internalize this prejudice as damaging self-stigma. This paper aimed to identify psychological factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and coping mechanisms associated with the self-stigma of problem gambling. Methods An online survey was conducted on 177 Australian adults with a ...

OBJECTIVE Many college students may experience mental health problems but do not seek treatment from mental health professionals. The present study examined how perceived stigma and self-stigma toward seeking mental health treatment, as well as perceptions of self-reliance for coping with mental health problems, relate to college student treatment-seeking. METHOD In total, 246 students comple...

The degree to which anticipated and experienced public stigma contribute to self-stigma remains open to debate, and little research has been conducted into the self-stigma of problem gambling. This study aimed to examine which aspects of anticipated and experienced stigma (if any) predict the anticipated level of public stigma associated with problem gambling and the degree of self-stigma felt ...

OBJECTIVE Self-stigma in overweight and obese individuals has strong associations with impairment in mental and global health. This study sought to explore self-compassion as a psychological resource in the self-stigma process. METHODS In a 2012 representative German population survey of N = 1,158 overweight and obese individuals, self-compassion was examined as a mediator between self-stigma...

PRINCIPLES Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related self-stigma--negative self-judgements resulting in shame, worthlessness and self-blame - negatively influences access to care and treatment, and overall quality of life for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Despite evidence that high levels of self-stigma exist among PLHIV, and is experienced to a far greater extent than stigma received from t...

As habitual self-stigma can have a tremendous negative impact on people with mental illness, it is of paramount importance to identify its risk factors. The present study aims to examine the potential contributory role of attentional bias in habitual self-stigma. People with mental illness having strong (n = 47) and weak (n = 47) habitual self-stigma completed a computerized emotional Stroop ta...