Understanding and Addressing Prejudices Faced by Mentally Ill Individuals: A Multidimensional Analysis

Mental illness stigma is a pervasive issue that transcends cultural and national boundaries, presenting substantial impediments to successful treatment, reducing key life opportunities, and exacerbating poor outcomes beyond the direct effects of the illness itself. This research primarily investigated the prejudices associated with mental illness, focusing on their combined manifestation through explicit and implicit biases. It aimed to demonstrate how these prejudices contribute to discrimination, thereby aggravating the primary symptoms of mental disorders. Additionally, the study explored the most efficacious intervention strategies aimed at mitigating these biases. The assumption was that participants with priorly direct contact with mentally ill individual would demonstrate significant reduction in their prejudice level. The sample ( n = 408 ) consisted of Nepalese individuals from diverse demographic backgrounds, aged between 18 and 60. They initially completed the Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness (PPMI) scale measuring explicit prejudice, and the mental illness Implicit Association Test (IAT) assessing implicit prejudice. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to one of four distinct groups: direct contact, indirect contact, education empowerment, and a control group; each incorporating interventions except control group. After two weeks of corresponding exposures, both tests were readministered to evaluate changes in scores. The differences in both scores were calculated to determine the impact of interventions. A Kruskal-Wallis test for changes across groups indicated there was a significant difference, \(\:\chi\:2\:\left(3,\:\:408\right)=(362.849;\:341.135),\:p<0.001\) for PPMI and IAT scores respectively. Post-hoc comparisons using Dunn’s method with a Bonferroni correction for multiple tests indicated that the mean changes in PPMI and IAT for the group engaging in direct contact with mentally ill individual were significantly lower than other groups. This implies that stigma reduction programs should incorporate direct interaction with individuals who have experienced mental illness. Given the uncertain long-term effectiveness of these interventions, it is essential to conduct extended research to evaluate their sustained impact.