DSM-V and the stigma of mental illness

Abstract

Stigma associated with mental illness has been shown to have devastating effects on the lives of people with psychiatric disorders, their families, and those who care for them. In the current article, the relationship between diagnostic labels and stigma is examined in the context of the forthcoming DSM-V. Three types of negative outcomes are reviewed in detail - public stigma, self-stigma, and label avoidance. The article illustrates how a clinical diagnosis may exacerbate these forms of stigma through socio-cognitive processes of groupness, homogeneity, and stability. Initial draft revisions recently proposed by the DSM-V work groups are presented, and their possible future implications for stigma associated with mental illness are discussed.