SOCIAL MEDIA
Portuguese Medical Association's Scientific Journal
Recently, an interesting study regarding stigma towards mental health in medical students raised an important question that should be the subject of extended discussion within the medical community – Psychiatric stigma in healthcare providers and, particularly, medical professionals. A study led by the Canadian Psychiatric Association showed that 79% of medical providers reported a first-hand experience of discrimination against psychiatric patients and 53% reported that they observed other medical collegues discriminating these patients. These numbers demonstrate the magnitude of this problem. Stigmatization, defined as a “process wherein a condition or an aspect of a person is linked to some pervasive dimension of the target person´s identity” or “a mark of disgrace or discredit that sets a person aside from other” leads to prejudice and discrimination and inevitable negative attitudes or behaviors towards mental health patients. These negative tendencies worsen their global prognosis.