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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1463879
This article is part of the Research Topic Community Series In Mental-Health-Related Stigma and Discrimination: Prevention, Role, and Management Strategies, Volume III View all 10 articles

The survey of the status of self-stigma of depression and its relationship with demographic factors in Gonabad, Iran

Provisionally accepted
Hadi Tehrani Hadi Tehrani 1Fatemehzahra Naddafi Fatemehzahra Naddafi 2Mahbobeh Nejatian Mahbobeh Nejatian 3Alireza Jafari Alireza Jafari 2*
  • 1 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran
  • 2 Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonābād, Iran
  • 3 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Depression is a common mental illness. Depression stigma can reduce individuals' desire to seek mental health services. No study has investigated depression self-stigma and its relationship with demographic factors in the general population of Gonabad city in Iran.Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the relationship between depression self-stigma and demographic factors.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,075 Iranians living in Gonabad city in 2024. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select participants. Data collection tools included demographic data and the Self-stigma of depression scale (SSDS). Higher SSDS scores indicate greater depression self-stigma. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24 with the independent samples t-test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation.The Mean (±SD) of Self-stigma of depression (SSD) was 42.51 (9.31). Only 16.1 % of the participants mentioned that they had a mental disorder, and 17.2 % reported that they had been referred to a psychologist. Based on the results, males had more SSD (p=0.028), help-seeking inhibition (p<0.001), and shame (p=0.002) than females. There were no significant relationships between education level, economic status, age group, occupation, and marital status with SSD (p>0.05). Individuals with a history of mental disorder had higher SSD (p=0.011) and help-seeking inhibition (p=0.004). People who did not obtain information related to mental illness had more help-seeking inhibition (p=0.001). Based on the Pearson correlation results, a direct and significant correlation coefficient was observed between the subscales of SSDS (P<0.001).The results of the study showed that SSD level was 42.51 ± 9.31from 70. SSD is one of the main obstacles to help-seeking and treatment, so providing knowledge and awareness in this area is essential to the community.

    Keywords: self-stigma, Depression, stigma, Mental Health, help seeking

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 04 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tehrani, Naddafi, Nejatian and Jafari. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alireza Jafari, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonābād, Iran

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