Stigma Related Avoidance in People Living with Severe Mental Illness (SMI): Findings of an Integrative Review

The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize primary evidence of the impact of internalized stigma on avoidance in adult community treatment patients living with SMI. A keyword database search of articles published through 2015 yielded 21 papers and a total of 4256 patients. Our analyses found that stigmatizing beliefs associated with avoidance are related to significant loss of self-esteem. Factors generally thought to reduce stigma internalized as self-stigmatizing beliefs, such as improved insight, increased self-awareness, and psycho-education to improve stigma coping skills, do not appear to improve self-esteem.