Evaluation of Stigma Related to Perceived Risk for Coronavirus-19 Transmission Relative to the Other Stigmatized Conditions Opioid Use and Depression

How to combat stigma surrounding mental health disorders: a scoping review of the experiences of different stakeholders

BACKGROUND

The stigma associated with mental health disorders (MHDs) results in delayed help-seeking, limited access to health services, suboptimal treatment, poor treatment outcomes, and an increased risk of human rights violations. This scoping review summarizes qualitative research on the lived experiences of different stakeholders regarding strategies and interventions to combat stigma for people with MHDs.

METHODS

This study was a six-step scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A comprehensive search of the following electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant records: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar, as well as a manual search of the reference lists. All steps, including screening of eligible studies, data extraction, and analysis, were performed independently by multiple reviewers, with disagreements resolved by discussion. The data were synthesized based on the for-content synthesis guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 25 studies were included in this review of the 32,976 initial identified citations. The included studies were from all countries (low, middle, and high income), stigmatized disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.) and target populations (e.g., people with MHDs and their families, health care providers, the general community, and students and school members). The thematic synthesis revealed six types of interventions and strategies and 17 themes related to reducing stigma in patients on MHDs. Strategies and interventions were classified by patient (self-stigma), family (family stigma), healthcare professionals' stigma, workplace stigma, public/societal stigma, and structural type of stigma (institutional stigma).

CONCLUSIONS

This review contributes new evidence that should be considered in future interventions and policies to reduce stigma against MHDs. Multilevel and multistakeholder strategies and interventions are needed to reduce the stigmatization of MHDs.

Evaluation of COVID-19 pandemic on components of social and mental health using machine learning, analysing United States data in 2020

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 was named a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Governments across the world issued various restrictions such as staying at home. These restrictions significantly influenced mental health worldwide. This study aims to document the prevalence of mental health problems and their relationship with the quality and quantity of social relationships affected by the pandemic during the United States national lockdown.

METHODS

Sample data was employed from the COVID-19 Impact Survey on April 20-26, 2020, May 4-10, 2020, and May 30-June 8, 2020 from United States Dataset. A total number of 8790, 8975, and 7506 adults participated in this study for April, May and June, respectively. Participants' mental health evaluations were compared clinically by looking at the quantity and quality of their social ties before and during the pandemic using machine learning techniques. To predict relationships between COVID-19 mental health and demographic and social factors, we employed random forest, support vector machine, Naive Bayes, and logistic regression.

RESULTS

The result for each contributing feature has been analyzed separately in detail. On the other hand, the influence of each feature was studied to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. The overall result of our research indicates that people who had previously been diagnosed with any type of mental illness were most affected by the new constraints during the pandemic. These people were among the most vulnerable due to the imposed changes in lifestyle.

CONCLUSION

This study estimates the occurrence of mental illness among adults with and without a history of mental disease during the COVID-19 preventative limitations. With the persistence of quarantine limitations, the prevalence of psychiatric issues grew. In the third survey, which was done under quarantine or house restrictions, mental health problems and acute stress reactions were substantially greater than in the prior two surveys. The findings of the study reveal that more focused messaging and support are needed for those with a history of mental illness throughout the implementation of restrictions.