Evaluating Public Stigma Towards Mental Illness In Windhoek

Abstract

Public stigma towards mental illness is associated with various negative implications for those struggling with mental illness and plays a significant role in help seeking behaviour as well as treatment adherence. The aim of this study is to quantify the degree of public stigma that exists and to understand attitudes towards mentally ill people held by people residing in Windhoek, Namibia. Finally, it seeks to identify whether there are any demographic variables associated with higher degrees of public stigma towards people with mental illness. This study utilises a mixed method approach, utilising the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, surveying 150 participants through a non-probability sampling technique. Data from the surveys were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SSPS) (Version 24.0) with inferential statistics used to identify any variables that could contribute to higher degrees of public stigma. In addition, three focus-group discussions with groups drawn from three different socio-economic areas within the Windhoek district were conducted. Each group consisted of eight participants and views held by the group members around mental illness were discussed. These discussions were analysed to allow for the identification of themes present in the data. Findings from this study revealed an overall level of public stigma towards mental illness of 41% from the CAMI Scale. Older adults, men and people with lower levels of education appeared to possess higher levels of public stigma towards the mentally ill. In addition, results revealed that lower socioeconomic groups had more misconceptions and misinformation around mental illness than middle- and higher-socioeconomic groups In addition to further research and development of mental health treatment services, strategies to address public stigma, namely contact, protest and education would appear to be applicable in the Namibian context.