Books, Articles and Research

Pillars of peer support: Transforming mental health systems of care through peer support services
This report summarizes the results and findings of the Pillars of Peer Support Services Summit, held at The Carter Center in November 2009. The Summit brought together representatives from States that currently provide formal training and certification for peer providers working in mental health systems. The purpose was to examine the multiple levels of support States need to provide in order to create a strong and vital peer workforce that is able to engage in mental health systems transformation.

Self-stigma common in schizophrenia, linked to empowerment
This study describes the level of self-stigma, stigma resistance, empowerment, and perceived discrimination reported by mental health service users with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder across 14 European countries. Based on the results of their research, the researchers hypothesized that interventions to enhance empowerment and social contact may have a role in reducing self-stigma.

Understanding and influencing the stigma of mental illness
This article identifies three types of negative perceptions of mental health problems that may prevent consumers from accomplishing recovery-related goals. The article also identifies ways to address these barriers.

Stigma keeps some Latinos from depression treatment
This article summarizes the results of a recent study of low-income Latinos experiencing depression. The study finds that Latinos with negative perceptions of mental health problems are less likely to take medication, keep scheduled appointments, and effectively manage their mental health problems.

Evolving definitions of mental illness and wellness
This article stresses the importance of adopting a more integrated view of mental and physical wellness and translating this view into concrete changes to our country's overall care delivery model. The article discusses the positive benefits that can be achieved through implementing linked approaches.

"Mental health recovery: What helps and what hinders?
This report covers research findings about the factors that can help consumers recover, as well as the factors that can negatively influence consumers and ultimately hinder their recovery. The researchers' long-term goal is to develop a core set of systems-level indicators to measure critical elements and processes of mental health service environments that facilitate recovery.

Words used to describe substance-use patients can alter attitudes, contribute to stigma
This article discusses recent research findings about the impact of language on providers' perception of people with alcohol and substance abuse problems.

Self-stigma and coming out about one's mental illness
Self-stigma can undermine the self-esteem and self-efficacy of people with serious mental health problems. Investigators hypothesized that coming out about one's mental health problems would mediate the effects of negative self perceptions on one's quality of life. This study compares coming out to other approaches of controlling negative self perceptions, and investigators discuss implications for how coming out enhances one's quality of life.

Perpetuating stigma? Differences between advertisements for psychiatric and non-psychiatric medication in two professional journals
This article details an examination of advertisements aimed at health professionals to establish whether there are any differences between advertisements for psychiatric medications and advertisements for non-psychiatric medications. The research showed that a distinction between mental health problems and other forms of ill health is clearly being maintained in medication advertisements; that this has the potential to result in or perpetuate negative and inaccurate perceptions, among both professionals and the public; and that this has troubling implications in light of the debates surrounding direct-to-consumer advertising.

How etiological explanations for depression impact perceptions of stigma, treatment effectiveness, and controllability of depression
Controversy exists regarding how etiological explanations for depression, particularly biological explanations, influence negative perceptions of depression, perceived controllability of depression, and perceived effectiveness of depression treatments. This study evaluates how biological and psychosocial explanations for depression relate to these variables. Negative perceptions of depression appear more meaningfully related to individuals' personal experiences with depression than to etiological explanations for depression, yet etiological models appear to have important implications for treatment preference and perceived controllability of mood.

Shunned: Discrimination against people with mental illness
Thornicroft's book explores how negative perceptions affect the lives of people with mental health problems.

The Importance of Community Development For Health and Well-Being
This report examines the key role that environmental and community forces play in promoting health and preventing disease. In addition, the authors assert that social and public works programs will be more successful if people living in impacted neighborhoods are afforded the opportunity to participate in the creation and management of the initiatives that affect them.

Evaluation of a middle school mental health education program: Executive summary
Wahl details his findings that the "Breaking the Silence" curriculum may help prevent the formation of negative attitudes and foster more accurate understanding and acceptance of people with psychiatric disorders among middle school aged children.

Action towards healthy living-for all
This journal article suggests that remedial measures are necessary to ensure that public policies become more closely aligned with the findings of biomedical and social research regarding the key essentials of health and well-being.

Fair society, healthy lives: Strategic review of health inequalities in England post 2010
This paper describes British issues in health equity, social determinants of health, and UK-style societal interventions in both mental health and overall health with mental health playing a critical role.

Low Socioeconomic Status Affects Cortisol Levels in Children Over Time
A new study from Edith Chen and colleagues suggests that there is a positive correlation between low socio-economic factors and low cortisol levels in children. This may have implications in future susceptibility to physical illness and mental health problems.

Work transitions for peer support providers in traditional mental health programs: unique challenges and opportunities.
Peer support is gaining recognition as a valuable component of mental health service delivery and as a meaningful employment opportunity for mental health consumers. Despite the potential benefits of peer support, there continue to be many barriers to the development and funding of peer positions. This article reports on the results of a multisite project whose goal was to build capacity for employment of trained peer providers in local, community-based mental health programs.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a consumer delivered anti-stigma program: replication with graduate-level helping professionals.
This study evaluated the consumer-delivered anti-stigma presentation In Our Own Voice (IOOV) with Masters of Social Work (M.S.W.) students, replicating a previous study with undergraduates. Thirty M.S.W. students completed pre- and post-presentation surveys to measure changes in attitude, knowledge, and social distance after the presentation. The results of this study further support the effectiveness of IOOV and indicate that graduate-level helping professionals can benefit from anti-stigma programs. Future research should go beyond self-report knowledge and attitude evaluation, test the efficacy of the components of the IOOV program (video, contact with presenters), and test the lasting effects of the program.

"Using Situation Testing to Document Employment Discrimination Against Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities"
Many individuals with psychiatric disabilities are unemployed or under-employed, with detrimental consequences for their lives and mental health. Although prior research suggests that stigmatization and discrimination contribute to this outcome, the exact extent of such employer behavior has remained largely undetermined. This article reviews the employment situation of persons with psychiatric disabilities, considers traditional ways to analyze the role of discrimination, and proposes situation testing as a new methodology overcoming many limitations of prior research.

Recovering Consumers and a Broken Mental Health System in the United States: Ongoing Challenges for Consumers/ Survivors and the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Part I: Legitimization of the Consumer Movement and Obstacles to It.
This article is the first of a two-article series that examines how multiple counteracting forces have situated the psychiatric consumer movement today, either propelling it or trying to reverse its achievements in shaping the production of mental health services. This part of the series describes how professionals came to embrace consumer/survivor perspectives, as well as attempts of oppositional forces to de-legitimize the movement's gains early in federally funded initiatives of consumer-run demonstration projects.

Towards social inclusion in mental health?
This article explores the uses of the terms "social exclusion" and "social inclusion" in a mental health context. Focusing on social inclusion as a remedy for the ills of social exclusion, this article discusses implications for contemporary mental health policy, practice, and research and concludes that a better theoretical understanding of causal mechanisms is needed to enable the development of more socially inclusive mental health services.

Social Inclusion as a determinant of mental health and wellbeing
This Research Summary was developed as part of the VicHealth Mental Health Promotion Plan in 2005 to provide an overview of the impact of social inclusion on mental health.

Vision and Progress: Social Inclusion and Mental Health
This report examines the progress of the National Social Inclusion Programme as it works to implement the activities outlined by the 2004 Mental Health and Social Exclusion Report. Details are given on the progress made so far and on the work still to be done.

Mental Health and Social Exclusion: Social Exclusion Unit Report
This report examines the impact mental health problems have on increasing social exclusion. The report also developed a 27-point action plan to address this problem.

Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health
This report examines the final findings from the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

A randomized trial of a mental health consumer-managed alternative to civil commitement for acute psychiatric crisis
This experiment compared the effectiveness of an unlocked, mental health, consumer-managed, crisis residential program (CRP) with the effectiveness of a locked, inpatient psychiatric facility (LIPF) for adults civilly committed for severe psychiatric problems. Following screening and informed consent, participants (n = 393) were randomized to the CRP or the LIPF and interviewed at baseline and at 30-day, 6-month, and 1-year post admission. Outcomes were costs, level of functioning, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, enrichment, and service satisfaction. Treatment outcomes were compared using hierarchical linear models. Participants in the CRP experienced significantly greater improvement on interviewer-rated and self-reported psychopathology than did participants in the LIPF condition; service satisfaction was dramatically higher in the CRP condition. CRP-style facilities are a viable alternative to psychiatric hospitalization for many individuals facing civil commitment.

History of Childhood Maltreatment Linked to Higher Rates of Unemployment, Poverty: Outcomes of Aubuse and Neglect Impost Significant Cost to Individual and Society
This article discusses the results of a study that examined the long-term impacts of childhood maltreatment, both for the individual and for society.

The Role of Social Network and Support in Mental Health Service Use: Findings From the Baltimore ECA Study
A significant number of people with mental illness do not use mental health services to receive treatment for their symptoms. This study examined the hypothesis that social network and social support affect mental health service use. Increased contact with the social network and higher levels of social support were associated with greater use of general medical services. However, more social support was associated with use of fewer services within the specialty psychiatric sector.

Compeer friends: A qualitative study of a volunteer friendship programme for people with serious mental illness
This study explored the benefits and drawbacks of an intentional friendship programme (Compeer, Inc), which develops new social relationships for people with serious mental illness by matching them in one-to-one relationships with community volunteers for weekly social activities.

Social support, activities, and recovery from serious mental illness: STARS study findings
Research on the role of social support in recovery from severe mental illness is limited and even more limited is research on the potential effects of participating in various activities. This study explores these relationships by analyzing baseline data from a 153-participant subsample in the Study of Transitions and Recovery Strategies.

The meaning and importance of employment to people in recovery from serious mental illness: Results of a qualitative study
Given the high rates of unemployment and underemployment among individuals with psychiatric disabilities, only a small number of studies have investigated the role work has in the lives of people who have been successful vocationally during their recovery from serious mental illness. This study sought to add to existing literature by determining how individuals perceive work and its effect on their recovery.

Social relationships as a decisive factor in recovering from severe mental illness
Recovery research often describes recovery from mental illness as a complex individual process. In this article a social perspective on recovery is developed. Researchers aim to ascertain which factors people regard as decisive to their own recovery and what makes them beneficial.

Effects of culturally relevant psychoeducation for Korean American families of persons with chronic mental illness
The goal of this study is to identify culturally relevant treatment methods and to assess the effects of family psychoeducational intervention for Korean Americans who had a family member with mental illness.

Stigma, poverty, and victimization: Roadblocks to Recovery for Individuals With Severe Mental Illness
This article addresses three roadblocks that exist towards recovery for individiauls with a mental illness including stigma, poverty, and victimization.

Ingroup perception and responses to stigma among persons with mental illness
Researchers tested the hypothesis that the way persons with mental illness perceive their ingroup (people with mental illness) in terms of group value, group identification and entitativity (perception of the ingroup as a coherent unit) shapes their reaction to stigma.

Relationships between stigma, depression, and treatment in white and African American primary care patients
This study examined the relationships among depression, mental health stigma, and treatment in African American and white primary care patients.

Changing attitudes of high school students towards peers with mental health problems
This study evaluated the effects of an antistigma program that was initiated in schools of Serbia with the aim to address and decrease discrimination of adolescents with mental disorders.

Unfortunately, we treat the chart:" Sources of stigma in mental health settings
This study investigated stigma in mental health settings through a mixed qualitative-quantitative design.

Passing for "normal": Features that affect the community inclusion of people with mental illness
The purpose of this study was to investigate specific features that indicate to community members that a person has a mental illness and the emotional reactions elicited by these features, in hopes of understanding barriers to the community integration of people living with mental illnesses.

Predicting behavioral intentions to those with mental illness: The role of attitude specificity and norms
The goal of this study is to investigate whether attitudes towards specific behaviours and perceived normative expectations improve prediction of behavioural intentions towards a person with mental illness.

Attitudes toward mental health services: age-group differences in Korean American adults
The present study examined the attitudes toward mental health services held by younger and older groups of Korean Americans. The findings provide important implications for interventions targeted to improve access to mental health care among minority populations. Based on the similarities and differences found between young and old, both general and age-specific strategies need to be developed in order to increase effectiveness of these programs.

"Culture in psychiatric epidemiology: Using ethnography and multiple mediator models to assess the relationship of caste with depression and anxiety in Nepal
The study aimed to identify mediators underlying caste-based disparities in mental health in Nepal. Caste-based disparities in mental health in rural Nepal are statistically mediated by poverty, lack of social support, and stressful life events. Interventions should target these areas to alleviate the excess mental health burden born by Dalit/Nepali women and men.

Mental disability and discriminatory practices: Effects of social representations of the mexican population
The aim of this study was to describe the general population's social representations of the disabled and analyze their relationship with the discriminatory practices from the state towards the mentally ill with respect to their right to health.

Psychotic symptoms and general health in a socially disadvantaged migrant community in Bologna
This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the prevalence of psychotic symptoms among Romanian immigrants living in very poor conditions at an abandoned hotel in Bologna and to highlight the possible correlation with general health status, distress and socio-demographic characteristics.

Public stigma in relation to individuals with depression
This study assessed public stigma in relation to individuals with depression and possible factors associated with this phenomenon.

Addressing recovery from severe mental illness in clinical supervision of advanced students
This article begins a dialogue about the need to incorporate emerging knowledge about recovery as an attainable outcome for individuals with severe mental illness in curricula. The author proposes that clinical supervision from a recovery model is faced with at least four semi-distinct challenges: the detection and avoidance of stigma, the setting of consensually valid and personally relevant goals, the development of a therapeutic relationship, and the assessment of barriers to recovery and outcomes.

So I wouldn't feel like I was excluded: The learning experience in computer education for persons with psychiatric disabilities.
This paper describes an exploratory, qualitative examination of factors that aid in the acquisition of computer skills by 12 adults across 2 settings: a structured, professionally-taught program and a less structured peer-taught setting. These pilot findings highlighted the importance to teaching effectiveness of striking a balance between flexibility and structure, with computer knowledge having broader implications for social inclusion.

Perceived helpfulness of websites for mental health information : A national survey of young Australians
Despite the high risk of developing a mental disorder during adolescence, many young people fail to receive appropriate treatment from mental health professionals. Recent studies have found certain mental health information websites have improved mental health literacy and reduced symptoms of depression. However, studies exploring young people's perceptions of such resources still remain scarce. The current paper compared young people's preference for a website with self-help books and two face-to-face services-counselling and mental health services.

To seek advice or not to seek advice about the problem: The help-seeking dilemma for obsessive-compulsive disorder
The present study aimed to explore some variables hypothetically involved in the help-seeking process among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Behavioral health needs and problem recognition by older adults receiving home-based aging services
The aims of this study were to examine behavioral health problems in a sample of older adults receiving home-based aging services, their recognition of behavioral health problems, and covariates of problem recognition.

Touch in mental health nursing: An exploratory study of nurses' views and perceptions
The aim of this study was to explore psychiatric nurses' perceptions of physical touch with people who experience mental health problems. A descriptive exploratory qualitative research design was used. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 10 registered psychiatric nurses who met the inclusion criteria and were randomly selected to participate in the study.

Health-related stigma
The concept of stigma, denoting relations of shame, has a long ancestry and has from the earliest times been associated with deviations from the 'normal', including, in various times and places, deviations from normative prescriptions of acceptable states of being for self and others. This paper dwells on modern social formations and offers conceptual and theoretical pointers towards a more convincing contemporary sociology of health-related stigma.

"Impact of a mental health teaching programme on adolescents
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a mental health teaching programme on adolescent pupils? understanding.

What factors influence attitudes towards people with current depression and current mania?
In this article, the authors were interested in learning if vulnerability to psychosis and mood disorders as well as social desirability can affect attitudes towards major depressive episodes and manic episodes.

Are personal values of importance in the stigmatization of people with mental illness?
The objective of this study was to investigate the relation of responses to the Schwartz Value Scale to preferred social distance to a person with either schizophrenia or depression. The influence of personal value priorities on discrimination has been investigated in several contexts, but seldom with reference to social distance towards those with mental illness.

Desire for social distance from people with mental disorders.
The review examines measurement of social distance; characteristics of people who desire greater social distance; experiences that affect social distance; characteristics of people that elicit social distance; the effects of psychiatric labelling; the effects of causal explanations for mental disorders; and interventions to reduce social distance.

An emotive subject: Insights from social, voluntary and healthcare professionals into the feelings of family carers for people with mental health problems.
This paper explores the emotions of family carers from the perspectives of social, voluntary and healthcare professionals. Sixty-five participants were interviewed, the sample included directors, managers and senior staff from social, voluntary and healthcare organisations.

SESAMI study of employment support for people with severe mental health problems: 12-month outcomes
In the context of UK policy to promote employment for people with disability as a means to greater social inclusion, this study investigated how people with severe mental health problems fare in existing supported employment agencies. The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with successful placement in work and to test the impact of working on psychological well-being in this group.

A comparison of contextual and biomedical models of stigma reduction for depression with a nonclinical undergraduate sample.
This study compared biomedical, contextual, and control stigma reduction programs to each other and to a no-program control. The main hypotheses were that the contextual program would have the greatest impact and that a match between participants' beliefs about depression and the model presented would moderate this effect.

The intricate link between violence and mental disorder
The objective of this study was to use a longitudinal data set representative of the US population to clarify whether or how severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression lead to violent behavior.

Patient ethnicity and perceptions of families and friends regarding depression treatment
"Black Americans are less likely than white Americans to seek professional treatment for depression. Whether treatment recommendations are sought and implemented by patients will be influenced by the role families and friends play in diagnostic acceptance and treatment decisions. Researchers investigated the association of ethnicity with the perceived need for treatment of depression by family and friends of older primary care patients.

The Role of Gender in Mental-Illness Stigma: A National Experiment
In a national, Web-based survey experiment, the authors' investigated the role played by gender in moderating mental-illness stigma. Respondents read a case summary in which the gender of the person was orthogonally manipulated along with the type of disorder; the cases reflected either a male-typical disorder or a female-typical disorder.

Attitudes towards mental illness among health care students at Swedish universities - A follow-up study after completed clinical placement
The aim of the study was to examine the changes in attitudes towards mental illness after theoretical education and clinical placement among students from university programmes preparing for different kinds of health professions.

A study of stigmatized attitudes towards people with mental health problems among health professionals
The project aimed to assess stigmatized attitudes among health professionals directed towards people with mental health problems. The Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire was used to assess participants' attitudes towards fictitious patients from a secure forensic hospital and patients with schizophrenia and substance use disorders.

Attitudes to people with mental disorders: A mental health literacy survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India
In this study a cross-sectional mental health literacy survey was undertaken in late 2007, which involved interviewer-administration of a questionnaire to 240 systematically sampled community members, and 60 purposively sampled village health workers.

Impact of a mental health teaching programme on adolescents
This cross-sectional study utilizes interviews with 60 adolescents treated in a wraparound program to examine: (a) the extent to which adolescents diagnosed and treated for psychiatric disorders experience mental illness stigma and cope by using secrecy, (b) the extent to which stigmatization is associated with self-concept (self-esteem, mastery, future outlook) and morale (depression), and (c) which clinical and demographic characteristics are associated with perceived stigma.

Interpersonal discrimination and the health of illicit drug users
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between interpersonal discrimination and the mental and physical health of illicit drug users taking into account several potential confounding factors.

Physicians-in-training attitudes toward caring for and working with patients with alcohol and drug abuse diagnoses
This study is designed to identify the progression of attitudinal shifts over time of physicians-in-training toward caring for people who receive substance abuse treatment.

Addressing negative attitudes toward substance use in nursing: A peer-led approach in nurse education
The overall focus of the author?s doctoral research is to consider the factors that influence the attitudes of student nurses toward the use of illicit substances.The project will provide an insight into how pre-existing attitudes and values around illicit drugs have formed and are adapted during pre-registration nurse training.

Shame, not guilt, related to substance-abuse problems; Reducing feelings of shame may be key to more effective treatment
This study included three groups of participants with different levels of alcohol and drug problems. Two groups were primarily female college students about 20 years of age. The third group was comprised of predominantly male inmates from a metropolitan area jail who were, on average, 31 years of age.It appears that individuals who are prone to shame when dealing with a variety of life problems may also have a tendency to turn toward alcohol and other drugs to cope with this feeling.

The role of gender in mental-illness stigma: A national experiment
In a national, Web-based survey experiment, the authors investigated the role played by gender in moderating mental-illness stigma.

Creating change: Using the arts to help stop the stigma of mental Illness and foster social integration
In this article the author hopes to create a passion for change and suggest a way that everyone can help stop stigma. However, research is needed; a design for a study to test this hypothesis is described.

Effects of perceived discrimination on mental health and mental health services utilization among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.
In this article the authors examined the extent to which a recent experience of a major discriminatory event may contribute to poor mental health among LGBT persons.

Mental illness: Diagnostic title or derogatory term? (Attitudes towards mental illness) Developing a learning resource for use within a clinical call centre. A systematic literature review on attitudes towards mental illness
This systematic literature review was completed to investigate what the most common negative attitudes towards mental illness are, and the most common recommendations made to address them.

Reducing the stigma of mental illness
A national report on mental health, produced by the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, indicates that Canada lags behind other developed countries in awareness of mental health and mental disorders. The report points out that health-care professionals are among the groups that perpetuate the stigma associated with mental illness.

Self-labeling and its effects among adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders
This study uses mixed-method interviews with 54 US adolescents receiving integrated mental health services in a mid-sized mid-Western city to examine: (1) the extent to which they use psychiatric terms to refer to their problems ("self-label"), and (2) the relationships between adolescents' self-labeling and indicators of psychological well-being (self-esteem, mastery, depression and self-stigma).

Stigmatization, social distance and exclusion because of mental illness: The individual with mental illness as a 'stranger'
In this article, the author states a lack of knowledge of causes, symptoms and treatment options of mental disorders in the public and a lack of personal contact with affected individuals can result in prejudices and negative attitudes towards them-and subsequently in stigmatization and discrimination.

Social exclusion in clients with comorbid mental health and substance misuse problems
A case-control study to examine aspects of social exclusion between service users who have comorbid diagnoses and those with a single diagnosis. Samples were drawn from the service users of a mental health Trust in the South-East of England, from both Adult Mental Health (n = 400) and Drug and Alcohol services (n = 190). Data were collected from Care Programme Approach assessment forms and medical records.

Social exclusion and mental health: Conceptual and methodological review
The aim of this study was to conduct a conceptual and methodological review of social exclusion, focusing initially on the origins and definitions of the concept and then on approaches to its measurement, both in general and in relation to mental health.

Mental health training for law enforcement professionals
The purpose of this pilot study was to determine topics of interest and preferred modalities of training for police officers in their work with persons with mental illness. Police officers across Massachusetts attending in-service mental health training were asked to rate the importance of potential mental health topics and the effectiveness of potential training modalities on a Likert-type scale.

Small business employers' views on hiring individuals with mental illness
This study investigated the beliefs of small business employers regarding hiring individuals with mental illness. Fifty-eight participants completed mail-in questionnaires concerning beliefs and willingness to hire persons with mental illness.

A cross-cultural study of employers' concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder: implications for recovery
In this study, we tested this lay approach by comparing employers' concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder for entry-level jobs in US and China.

Employing persons with serious mental illness
In this study data from various national surveys find that approximately half the population with mental disorders is gainfully employed across the entire range of occupations; such persons have an employment rate of about two-thirds that of the general population.

Self-stigma, empowerment, and perceived legitimacy of discrimination among women with mental illness
The study sought to better understand why some people with mental illness self-stigmatize and develop low self-esteem while others remain indifferent to stigma or respond with a sense of empowerment. The authors hypothesized that a high level of perceived discrimination, little sense of identification with the group of people with mental illness, and a high level of perceived legitimacy of discrimination lead to self-stigma.

Increasing social support for individuals with serious mental illness: evaluating the compeer model of intentional friendship
In this study, the authors conducted a quasi-experimental study of Compeer, which matches community volunteers and people with SMI to increase social support.

Perceptions of discrimination among persons with serious mental illness
The authors sought to gain further perspective on discrimination experienced by persons with mental illness by comparing self-reports of discrimination due to mental illness to self-reports of discrimination due to other group characteristics, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Mental illness and employment discrimination
This review summarizes recent evidence pertaining to employment-related stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental disabilities.

Employment equity and mental disability
Recent research on the civil rights issue of employment equity for people with psychiatric disabilities is reviewed.

Stigmatization in different mental health services: a comparison of psychiatric and general hospitals.
This article compares clients from psychiatric and general hospitals according to three dimensions of stigmatization, using data from structured questionnaires (n = 555). The results reveal that when background characteristics are taken into account clients of psychiatric wards of general hospitals report less stigma expectations and social rejection experiences in comparison with their counterparts in psychiatric hospitals.

Pathways between internalized stigma and outcomes related to recovery in schizophrenia spectrum disorders
This study empirically evaluated a model for how internalized stigma affects important outcomes related to recovery. A total of 102 persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders completed measures of internalized stigma, awareness of mental illness, psychiatric symptoms, self-esteem, hopefulness, and coping. Path analyses tested a predicted model and an alternative model for the relationships between the variables.

Soldier attitudes toward mental health screening and seeking care upon return from combat
This study examined soldier attitudes about postdeployment mental health screening, treatment, barriers to care, strategies for overcoming barriers, and settings, personnel and timing for conducting postdeployment mental health screening.

Social distance towards people with mental illness in southwestern Nigeria
The aim of the present study was to assess the lay public's attitude (social distance) towards people with mental illness in southwestern Nigeria and examine the factors correlating with such an attitude.

Beliefs about depression and depression treatment among depressed veterans
In this article the authors states that they studied beliefs about depression and depression treatment among patients in a randomized trial of a chronic care intervention to improve depression treatment in the Veterans Administration healthcare system (n = 395).

How stigma interferes with mental health care
Many people who would benefit from mental health services opt not to pursue them or fail to fully participate once they have begun. One of the reasons for this disconnect is stigma; namely, to avoid the label of mental illness and the harm it brings, peopl