Research on Stigma and Dehumanisation in Mental Healthcare

UCLUS members conduct research on mental health related stigma. In particular, we seek to understand the relationship between stigma and disclosure versus concealment of experiences of mental health problems in a range of contexts.

Current Projects

Tackling mental health stigma among mental health professionals through supporting decisions around sharing of lived experience (HOP-MHP)

Leads: Jemma Greenhalgh, Natasha Kumar and Rachel Slavny-Cross

Mental health professionals experience stigma regarding their own mental health difficulties and often feel conflicted when deciding on self-disclosure. This may be fuelled by an ‘us and them’ mentality between providers and users of mental health services. In response to this, a guided self-help intervention ‘Honest Open Proud for Mental Health Professionals’ (HOP-MHP), was developed as part of the UCL Unit for Stigma Research. HOP-MHP is an adaptation of the original Honest Open Proud intervention developed by Pat Corrigan and colleagues. HOP-MHP supports professionals in reaching decisions around potential sharing of their lived experience in a way that is personally meaningful, safe and empowering. Following feedback from the piloted HOP-MHP self-help intervention, we will conduct a feasibility trial (HOP-MHP vs Control) of a revised online group version. We aim to evaluate the outcomes and process of delivering HOP-MHP as a group intervention for Mental Health Nurses, Psychiatrists and Psychological Professionals, using mixed methods. The project is supervised by Katrina Scior and Henry Clements.

• Find out more about HOP-MHP

Mental health related stigma amongst Middle Eastern migrant populations: A systematic review

Lead: Ayaat Ati

This systematic review aims to understand the experience of mental health related stigma amongst migrants from the Middle East who are living in Western countries. It will explore the role of mental health related stigma in pre and post migratory experiences, as well as the impact on wellbeing outcomes and help-seeking behaviour within this population. This review is part of a broader research project which explores the effects of intergenerational trauma in forcibly displaced Iraqi migrant families living in the UK. An empirical study conducted in parallel with the systematic review employs a qualitative approach to understand the experiences of second-generation British Iraqis with a history of parental forced displacement migration but no direct exposure to parental trauma. 

The impact of dehumanising language on healthcare providers' attitudes towards service users with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder

Lead: Kyriana Georgiou Delisle

People with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder are more likely to be stigmatised and dehumanised by healthcare providers than people with other mental health conditions. Dehumanisation in healthcare results in reduced empathy and compassion towards service users and impacts willingness to help. There is limited research on the impact of dehumanising language on healthcare providers’ attitudes towards service users with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. This study will investigate the impact of dehumanising language by asking participants from different clinical disciplines to read a dehumanising or respectful vignette about two fictional service users with schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder. Participants will then be asked about their attitudes towards the service users through an online Qualtrics questionnaire. Participants will be randomly assigned to different vignette conditions using a between and within participant design. This research may provide evidence for the importance of considering language when writing clinical documentation.