Attitudes towards people with a mental disorder: a survey of the Australian public and health professionals

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to compare the Australian public's attitudes towards people who have been treated for a mental disorder with the attitudes of general practitioners, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. METHOD: The study involved a household survey of 2031 members of the Australian public and a postal survey of 872 general practitioners, 1128 psychiatrists and 454 clinical psychologists. Survey participants were presented with a vignette describing a person with schizophrenia or one with depression. They were asked opinions about the person's long-term outcome in various areas of life after receiving treatment. Participants were also asked whether they thought the pe..