Understanding the landscape of awareness and attitudes

A glance at Canadian and world awareness levels and attitudes towards mental illness and/or addictions will help to better understand how public education programs should be focused:

• In an Ontario study of public attitudes towards people with depression or schizophrenia, it was found that:
  • 20% of individuals would be very or somewhat unwilling to move next door to someone with depression; 22% would be unwilling to socialize with, 20% to make friends with and 27% to work with, someone with depression.
  • a substantial percentage would be very or somewhat unwilling to live next door to (48%), socialize with (43%), make friends with (42%), and work with (50%) someone with schizophrenia.
  • Males are more likely than females to report a greater unwillingness to interact with those with mental disorders
  • Willingness to move next or make friends with someone with schizophrenia, decreases with age
  •  Knowledge factors are inversely related to social distance  
    
• In one Quebec study of attitudes to individuals with schizophrenia,
  • Schizophrenia provoked feelings of both incomprehension (36% of respondents) and suspiciousness (39%).
  • 54% of the respondents said that they consider schizophrenic people to be violent and dangerous.
  • Schizophrenia was seen as a more severe illness than either depression or manic-depressive psychosis:
  • 16% thought that an employee with depression would be fired, 21% thought that a manic-depressive person would be fired, and 31% felt this way about an employee with schizophrenia.  

• Attitudes to people with alcohol misuse problems:
  • Dangerous to others: 65%
  • Unpredictable: 71%
  • Would be hard to talk to: 59%
  • Has self to blame: 60%
  • Could pull self together: 52%
  • Not improved even if treated: 11%
  • Will never recover: 24%
    
• Attitudes to people with drug addiction problems:
  • Dangerous to others: 74%
  • Unpredictable: 78%
  • Would be hard to talk to: 65%
  • Has self to blame: 68%
  • Could pull self together: 47%
  • Not improved even if treated: 12%
  • Will never recover: 23%

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