Perception towards Mental Illness in Southern Tamil Nadu: A Cross Sectional Study

Authors

  • Krishnaleela G Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Siva PM Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Christina Mary Jose Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Deepak Kabilan Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Chitra P Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Dharsini G V Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli
  • Dhivyabharathi SB Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli

Keywords:

Psychiatric disorders, Perception, Tamil Nadu, BMI scale

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric disorders are widely considered as a major contributor to the global burden of diseases worldwide. Psychiatric patients are subjected to cultural stereotypes and negative attitude by general population. This study aims to assess the perception towards mental illness among people of Mukkudal, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted among 250 people aged above 18 years residing in Mukkudal village of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. Questionnaire including basic demographic information, BMI scale was used to assess the perception among general population.

Results: Out of 21 questions people were found to have poor perception towards 10 questions (>50%).72% of people were found to believe that it is embarrassing to have a mentally ill person in their family.People belonging to the age group 40- 50; female by sex; Christian by religion; positive family history for mental illness; socio-economic class were found to have poor perception towards mental illness.

Conclusions: Creating awareness using film stars and Celebrities may help to improve the perception among lower socio economic classes. Strategies to increase social contact of public with people having mental illness could be considered in the implementation of anti- stigma programs.

References

Funk M. Global burden of mental disorders and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response from health and social sectors at the country level. Retrieved on. 2016 Oct;30.

World Health Organization, Noncommunicable Disease and Mental Health Cluster. Investing in mental health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.

Aruna G, Mittal S, Yadiyal MB, Acharya C, Acharya S, Uppulari C. Perception, knowledge, and attitude toward mental disorders and psychiatry among medical undergraduates in Karnataka: A cross-sectional study. Indian journal of psychiatry. 2016 Jan;58(1):70.

Trivedi JK, Dhyani M. Undergraduate psychiatric education in South Asian countries. Indian journal of psychiatry. 2007 Jul;49(3):163.

Hesse K, Kriston L, Mehl S, Wittorf A, Wiedemann W, Wölwer W, Klingberg S. The vicious cycle of family at-mosphere, interpersonal self-concepts, and paranoia in schizophrenia—a longitudinal study. Schizophrenia bulletin. 2015 Apr 29;41(6):1403-12.

Schomerus G, Angermeyer MC. Stigma and its impact on help-seeking for mental disorders: what do we know?. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2008 Mar;17(1):31-7.

Girma E, Möller-Leimkühler AM, Dehning S, Mueller N, Tesfaye M, Froeschl G. Self-stigma among caregivers of people with mental illness: toward caregivers’ empower-ment. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare. 2014;7:37.

Hirai M, Clum GA. Development, reliability, and validity of the beliefs toward mental illness scale. Journal of psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. 2000 Sep 1;22(3):221-36.

Tesfamariam EH, Tekie MM, Tesfa AY, Hadgu DH, Awalom EA, Ghebremedhin EB, Tquabo NA. Attitude towards Mental Illness among Secondary School Students in Asmara, Eritrea: A Cross-Sectional Study. Psychiatry Journal. 2018;2018.

Jyothi NU, Bollu M, Ali SF, Chaitanya DS, Mounika S. A Questionnaire Survey on Student's Attitudes towards Individuals with Mental Illness. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. 2015 Jul 1;7(7):393.

Ganesh K. Knowledge and attitude of mental illness among general public of Southern India. Natl J (Wash). 2011;2:175-8.

Salve H, Goswami K, Sagar R, Nongkynrih B, Sreenivas V. Perception and attitude towards mental illness in an urban community in South Delhi–A community based study. Indian journal of psychological medicine. 2013 Apr;35(2):154.

Jugal K, Mukherjee R, Parashar M, Jiloha RC, Ingle GK. Beliefs and attitudes towards mental health among medical professionals in Delhi. Indian journal of community medicine. 2007 Jul 1;32(3):198.

Poreddi V, BIrudu R, Thimmaiah R, Math SB. Mental health literacy among caregivers of persons with mental illness: A descriptive survey. Journal of neurosciences in rural practice. 2015 Jul;6(3):355.

Venkatesh BT, Andrews T, Mayya SS, Singh MM, Parsekar SS. Perception of stigma toward mental illness in South India. Journal of family medicine and primary care. 2015 Jul;4(3):449.

Downloads

Published

2019-09-30

How to Cite

1.
Krishnaleela G, Siva PM, Jose CM, Kabilan D, Chitra P, Dharsini G V, Dhivyabharathi SB. Perception towards Mental Illness in Southern Tamil Nadu: A Cross Sectional Study. Natl J Community Med [Internet]. 2019 Sep. 30 [cited 2024 Nov. 21];10(09):485-90. Available from: https://njcmindia.com/index.php/file/article/view/547

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 09 (2019)

Section

Original Research Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The authors retain the copyright of their article, with first publication rights granted to Medsci Publications.