Abstract

"Introduction: Either out of personal experiences, fear, or other reasons, people tend to stigmatize the mentally ill. This stigma affects in a negative manner these patients. Our primary objective was to evaluate the existence of differences in attitudes towards the mentally ill among different people, grouped according to four characteristics: health care providers, general population, people who know mentally ill, and those who do not. Methods: The Community Attitudes toward Mentally Ill Scale (CAMI) was applied to 126 participants, which were classified in four groups: ""know-health"", ""do not know- health"", ""know-general population"", ""do not know-general population"". Each scale item was analyzed for each of the groups: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restriction, and perception. Results: Health care providers report less authoritarianism, less social restriction, and better perception towards the mentally ill when compared to general population. Those who know a mentally ill also have a better perception and less social restriction than those who do not know a mentally ill patient. The positive effects on stigma reduction among health care providers and those who know mentally ill patients had an additive effect. Conclusion: When common people know a mentally ill, the stigma is diminished. This contributes to better support, leading to improved treatment and better prognosis"