Self-Stigma Regarding Mental Illness: Definition, Impact, and Relationship to Societal Stigma

In October 2013, we brought together 30 researchers in the area of mental illness self-stigma to discuss the current state of the field and to identify future priorities (“Reducing Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness: Mapping Future Directions,” Baltimore Maryland). These included the differences between and relationships among self-stigma and related constructs; exploring models or theories of the development, maintenance, and amelioration of self-stigma; validating new and existing measures of self-stigma with a variety of populations; and advancing strategies and programs designed to prevent, reduce, or eliminate self-stigma. That small working meeting was the impetus for this special issue. A call for papers was circulated widely, and final authors include both conference attendees and others. The resulting articles push forward our knowledge about and inquiry into the effects and dynamics of internalized stigma associated with mental illness as well as potential avenues and strategies for intervening to reduce it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)