Attitudes of Split-Dalmatia County residents towards individuals with mental illness

Duševno zdravlje je sastavni dio zdravlja. Poremećaji i problemi koji se vežu uz duševno zdravlje predstavljaju jedan od glavnih javno-zdravstvenih problema današnjice. Prema procjenama od strane Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije, duševni poremećaji nalaze se na 3.mjestu,odnosno na samom vrhu. Duševni bolesnici, osim poteškoća koje su vezane uz njihovo primarno oboljenje, suočeni su također i s poteškoćama koje proizlaze iz njihove stigmatizacije u sredini u kojoj žive. Stigma duševne bolesti, a to ujedno znači i strah od duševnog bolesnika, najjače su izraženi u srednje i više socijalne klase. Čovjek u većini slučajeva nije ni svjestan straha od psihijatrijskih bolesti sve dok se ne susretne s osobom koja je oboljela i simbolizira sve što se čovjeku može dogoditi. Predrasude i strah od stigme glavni su razlozi zbog kojih osobe koje pate od duševnih smetnji ne traže stručnu pomoć. Borbu protiv stigmatizacije trebali bi provoditi svi građani, pogotovo mlađe generacije, zdravstveni djelatnici, mediji te u konačnici i sami bolesnici. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti stavove stanovnika Splitsko-dalmatinske županije prema osobama s duševnim bolestima te ujedno ispitati postoje li razlike prema osobama s duševnim bolestima u odnosu na spol, dob, razinu obrazovanja i osobni kontakt s oboljelom osobom. U istraživanju je sudjelovao 101 ispitanik. Istraživanje je provedeno putem interneta te je sudjelovanje u istraživanju bilo u potpunosti anonimno i dobrovoljno. Korišten je upitnik od dvadeset i dva pitanja konstruiran za potrebe ovog istraživanja. Podatci su obrađeni u SPSS (Statistics for Windows). Dobiveni rezultati ovog istraživanja ukazuju na to da stanovnici Splitsko- dalmatinske županije dijele slična mišljenja i stavove glede osoba oboljelih od duševne bolesti. Drugim riječima, muškarci i žene, neovisno o dobnoj skupini, stupnju obrazovanja i osobnom kontaktu s osobom oboljelom od duševne bolesti imaju podjednako pozitivan stav prema osobama s duševnim bolestima. Prema ovom stigmatizacija osoba oboljelih od duševnih bolesti i dalje postoji, no nije izražena u tolikoj mjeri.Mental health is an integral part of health. Mental health disorders are one of the major public health problems of today. According to the World Health Organization, mental disorders are at the 3rd place. In addition to the difficulties associated with their primary illness, mental health patients also face to deal with their stigmatization of the environment in which they live. Stigmatization of the mental health illness, which also means fear of the mentally ill patient, is most expressed in middle or upper social classes. In most cases, the person is not even aware of fear of psychiatric illness until he meets the person who is ill and show everything that can happen to the person. Prejudices and fear are the main reason why people with mental health disorders do not seek for professional help. The fight against prejudices should be carried out by all citizens, younger population, health care professionals, the media and the mental health patients themselves. The goal of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of the residents of Split-Dalmatia County towards the people with mental illnes and also to examine whether there are differences in regards to terms of gender, age, level of education and personal contact with a person with mental illness. The number of the people who participated in the survey was 101. The survey was conducted online and the participation in the survey was anonymous. The survey had twenty-two questions. Results were processed in program called Statistics for Windows. The results of the study indicate that residents of Split-Dalmatia County share similar opinions and attitudes towards people with mental illness. Regardless of the age, level of education and personal contant with person with mental illness, men and women have an equally positive attitude towards people with mental health illness. According to the results, prejudices are still present, but no so pronounced