1,721,069 research outputs found
The diffusion of the diagnostic term bipolar disorder among the German public
No full textIn 2005, 15 years after the introduction of the diagnosis in DSM-III, a telephone survey in Germany revealed that the public was still unfamiliar with the term bipolar disorder. Only 5.3% of those questioned knew at the time that it denotes a mental illness. In the meantime, efforts have been made to spread the concept among the public. In the media there has been increasing mention of the disorder. Another telephone survey in 2017 showed that familiarity with the diagnostic term has grown substantially. 54.0% of respondents now connected the term bipolar disorder with a mental illness
Changes in the perception in the mental health stigma in Germany over the last two decades
No full textThe loss of sadness: the public's view
No full textObjective: With the exception of bereavement, the diagnosis of major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV does not take into account the context in which the symptoms occur. Recent criticism has maintained that common sense suggests making a distinction between depression as mental disorder and sorrow as 'normal' reaction to social stress. This study sets out to investigate whether the public does in fact make this distinction. Method: In spring 2009, a population-based survey was conducted by phone in the city of Vienna (n=1205). A fully structured interview was carried out which began with the presentation of a vignette describing a diagnostically unlabeled case of depression, with or without provision of information about preceding stressful life events. Results: Respondents presented with vignettes containing information on loss events were less likely to define depressive symptoms as indication of mental illness. They were also not as willing to recommend professional help. And if they were, they tended to less frequently recommend seeking help from someone with a medical background. Conclusion: In contrast to the conceptualization in the DSM-IV, the public tends to perceive depressive symptoms differently depending on the context in which they occur
Attitudes towards psychotropic drugs: schizophrenic patients vs. general public
No full textResults of representative survey in Germany have shown that the lay public takes a critical stance towards the treatment of mental disorders with psychotropic medication. This raises the question as to whether this view is shared by the schizophrenic patients. Method: Using a questionnaire consisting of ten 5-point Likert-scaled items. 104 schizophrenic patients, who were treated with clozapine. were asked to assess the positive and negative effects of psychotropic drugs. Follow-up?, were carried out 3 and 6 months later. Data from a representative survey of the German adult population a ere consulted fur comparison. Results: As compared with the general public. schizophrenic patients were more frequently prepared to acknowledge positive effects of psychotropic drugs. On the other hand. they less frequently subscribed to negative evaluations of the medication. Their assessment remained remarkably stable over the six-month period studied. Conclusion: While schizophrenic patients' evaluations of psychotropic drugs were less negative than those prevalent among the lay public. they also expressed a considerable amount of scepticism and insecurity
The stigma of alcohol dependence compared with other mental disorders: A review of population studies
No full textAims: Stigma is likely to aggravate the severe medical and social consequences of alcohol dependence. We aim to explore the characteristics of the alcohol dependence stigma by comparing it with the stigma of other conditions. Methods: On the basis of a systematic literature search, we identified 17 representative population studies published before July 2010 that examine aspects of the stigma of alcoholism and simultaneously of other mental, medical or social conditions. Seven surveys were located in Europe, five in North America, three in New Zealand and one each in Brazil and Ethiopia, respectively. Results: Compared with people suffering from other, substance-unrelated mental disorders, alcohol-dependent persons are less frequently regarded as mentally ill, are held much more responsible for their condition, provoke more social rejection and more negative emotions, and they are at particular risk for structural discrimination. Only with regard to being a danger, they are perceived to be at a similarly negative level to that of people suffering from schizophrenia. Conclusion: Alcoholism is a particularly severely stigmatized mental disorder. Cultural differences are likely, but under-researched. We discuss possible reasons for the differences between the stigma of alcoholism and of other mental diseases and the consequences for targeted anti-stigma initiatives
Psychiatric services in the community? The German public's opinion in 1990 and 2011
No full textBackground. During the last two decades, the change from custodial care provided by large institutions to community-focused services made considerable progress in Germany. However, nothing is known about how this is reflected in the public's acceptance of community psychiatry services.
Methods. The study is based on data from two population surveys among German citizens aged 18 years and over, living in the 'old' German States. The first was conducted in 1990 (n = 3067), the second in 2011 (n = 2416). With the help of identical questions, respondents' attitudes towards psychiatric units at general hospitals and group homes for mentally ill people were assessed.
Results. While the proportion of the public that explicitly welcomed establishing psychiatric units at general hospitals and opening group homes for mentally ill people decreased, the proportion of those who reacted with indifference increased. The proportion of the German population that explicitly rejected the implementation of these services remained unchanged.
Conclusions. While community psychiatry services expanded considerably over the last few years, the public's attitude towards them has not changed substantially
Recommendations of the Sardinian public for the treatment of depression
No full textBackground: Public beliefs about appropriate treatment impact, help-seeking and treatment adherence.Aim: To determine the recommendations of the Sardinian public for the treatment of depression.Methods: In 2012, a population-based survey was conducted by phone in Sardinia (N = 1,200). In the context of a fully structured interview, respondents were presented with a vignette depicting a case of depression. Subsequently, they were asked about their treatment recommendations. The results are contrasted with findings from a similar survey which had been conducted in Vienna 3 years before.Results: In Sardinia as in Vienna, psychotherapy was the uncontested favorite, while antidepressant medication was recommended by relatively few respondents. In Sardinia, there were also no marked differences between urban and rural areas with regard to these two treatments. However, between Sardinia and Vienna, as well as within Sardinia, great differences were found with regard to autogenic training and ?alternative? methods like homeopathic medicines and acupuncture.Conclusion: Cross-cultural comparisons may help better understand treatment preferences of the public. In Sardinia, as in Vienna, there seems to be a need for improving the public?s knowledge about the appropriate treatment of depression
Attitudes towards psychotropic drugs: schizophrenic patients vs. general public
No full textResults of representative survey in Germany have shown that the lay public takes a critical stance towards the treatment of mental disorders with psychotropic medication. This raises the question as to whether this view is shared by the schizophrenic patients. Method: Using a questionnaire consisting of ten 5-point Likert-scaled items. 104 schizophrenic patients, who were treated with clozapine. were asked to assess the positive and negative effects of psychotropic drugs. Follow-up?, were carried out 3 and 6 months later. Data from a representative survey of the German adult population a ere consulted fur comparison. Results: As compared with the general public. schizophrenic patients were more frequently prepared to acknowledge positive effects of psychotropic drugs. On the other hand. they less frequently subscribed to negative evaluations of the medication. Their assessment remained remarkably stable over the six-month period studied. Conclusion: While schizophrenic patients' evaluations of psychotropic drugs were less negative than those prevalent among the lay public. they also expressed a considerable amount of scepticism and insecurity
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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