The contributions of knowledge and contact to the stigma of mental illness

Abstract

Study One is a single face-to-face questionnaire study of 243 patients with psoriasis and/or arthritis. Because leprosy is an infectious condition, psoriasis is a better model of a stigmatising skin disorder likely to cause embarrassment (anxiety) in people wishing to hide it from the view of others. The challenge was to separate the negative effects of any chronic illness on psychological well-being from its stigma. Diagnoses of psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) were confirmed by Consultants, and the control group met international criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Parameters of disease severity were recorded alongside measures of psychological distress, alcohol use and questions about possible stigma. Univariate analyses compared demographic and disease markers of the three groups, and Mann Whitney U test examined relationships between morbidity and alcohol use.