Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 15;17(9):e0273483.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273483. eCollection 2022.

Stigmatizing attitudes towards depression among university students in Syria

Sarya Swed  1 , Sheikh Sohib  2 , Noheir Ashraf Ibrahem Fathy Hassan  3 , Mohammad Badr Almoshantaf  4 , Sidra Mhd Sammer Alkadi  5 , Yossef Hassan AbdelQadir  6 , Nancy Ibrahim  6 , Lina Taha Khair  7 , Agyad Bakkour  8 , Ali Hadi Hussein Muwaili  9 , Dhuha Hadi Hussein Muwaili  9 , Fatima Abubaker Abdalla Abdelmajid  10 , Eman Mohammed Sharif Ahmad  11 , Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary  12   13 , Bisher Sawaf  14 , Mhd Kutaiba Albuni  14 , Elias Battikh  14 , Nashaat Kamal Hamdy Elkalagi  15
Affiliations

Stigmatizing attitudes towards depression among university students in Syria

Sarya Swed et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

  • Correction: Stigmatizing attitudes towards depression among university students in Syria.
    Swed S, Sohib S, Fathy Hassan NAI, Almoshantaf MB, Sammer Alkadi SM, AbdelQadir YH, Ibrahim N, Taha Khair L, Bakkour A, Muwaili AHH, Hussein Muwaili DH, Abdalla Abdelmajid FA, Sharif Ahmad EM, Patwary MM, Sawaf B, Albuni MK, Battikh E, Hamdy NK. Swed S, et al. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 26;18(10):e0293795. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293795. eCollection 2023. PLoS One. 2023. PMID: 37883469 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Background: Depression is a prominent cause of mental disability globally, having a severe impact on mental and physical health. Depression rehabilitation and treatment, whether through psychiatric management or counseling therapy, is hampered by stigmatizing attitudes regarding psychiatric illness patients impacted by societal and cultural factors. However, little is known about the stigma toward people with depression among the students in Syria.

Methodology: A total of 1,056 students in Syria completed a questionnaire that included a case narrative illustrating depression. A total of 1,056 students in Syria completed a questionnaire that included a case narrative illustrating depression. The survey looked at attitudes toward depression, the desire to keep a safe distance from depressed people, stigma attitudes toward people with depression among college students, perceived beliefs about depressive people, gender (male and female), and the major section (medical and medical and non-medical) differences.

Results: Four questionnaires have refused to finish the survey, out of 1259 issued. Around 47.80% of respondents, most of whom were females, felt that sad people might snap out of it. 14.60 percent believe depression isn't even an actual medical condition. Surprisingly, 2% of respondents with a medical background thought the same thing. Regarding more extreme stigmatization, 16.80% of respondents thought depressed persons were harmful. People with depression will be avoided by 19.50 percent of respondents, and people with medical backgrounds will be avoided by 5.20 percent of respondents. Nearly one-fifth of those polled said they would not tell anyone if they were depressed. Only a tiny percentage of respondents (6.90 percent) said they would not hire or vote for a politician who suffers from depression (8.40 percent).

Conclusion: According to the study, Syrian college students had a significant level of stigma and social distance toward mentally ill patients. Female students and non-medical students had a higher stigma in most subscale items for people with depression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Participants’ usual sources of mental health knowledge.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Supporting information: (Knowledge towards the three mental disorders) [depression].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Richa C. and Doron T., Depression: symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Depression, 2021.
    1. Bains N. and Abdijadid S., Major depressive disorder, in StatPearls [Internet]. 2021, StatPearls Publishing. - PubMed
    1. Lim G., Prevalence of Depression in the Community from 30 Countries between 1994 and 2014. Sci. 2018, Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21243-x - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mojtabai R., Olfson M., and Han B.J.P., National trends in the prevalence and treatment of depression in adolescents and young adults. 2016. 138(6). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bayram N., Bilgel N.J.S.p., and p. epidemiology, The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students. 2008. 43(8): p. 667–672. doi: 10.1007/s00127-008-0345-x - DOI - PubMed