Harshal Ramesh Salve|Kiran Goswami|Rajesh Sagar|Baridalyne Nongkynrih|Vishnubhatla Sreenivas
Perception and Attitude towards Mental Illness in an Urban Community in South Delhi - A Community Based Study
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
mental illness largely ignored neglected communitys perception attached social stigmaa community based crosssectional study conducted urban community south delhi study perception attitude community towards mental illness adult member household selected systematic random sampling interviewed using semistructured interview schedule perception mental illness 34 item opinion mental illness chinese community omicc scalea total 100 adults interviewed mean age participants 358 sd 126 years living without tension satisfaction routine life identified indicators healthy mental status change behavior perceived common symptom mental illness although mental stress identified common cause mental illness 25 attributed evil spirits keeping surroundings friendly sharing problems others identified important preventive measures mental illness mental illness perceived treatable 12 preferred treatment tantricojha community showed negative attitude stereotyping restrictiveness pessimistic prediction domains omicc scale mean score 45 sd 02 39 sd 09 38 sd 04 respectively statistically significant difference across age sex literacystudy observed lack awareness regarding biomedical concept mental illness socially restrictive stereotyping pessimistic nonstigmatizing attitude toward mental illness capital city