Internalised stigma and self-esteem in patients with remitted schizophrenia and their spouses

There are plenty of studies on stigma and self-esteem in patients with schizophrenia. Patients with remitted schizophrenia and particularly their spouses had not been studied sufficiently to explore the association between stigma and self-esteem. Keeping this in view, the current study was initiated. This study was aimed at exploring the association between internalised stigma and self esteem in patients with remitted schizophrenia and their spouses. This study was carried out in100 participants (50 patients with remitted schizophrenia and their spouses) at the outpatient Department Post Graduate Institute of Behavioural and Medical Sciences, India. Patients and spouses, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the study, were interviewed and data were collected by Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Inventory (ISMI). Patients with remitted schizophrenia were observed with a significant negative correlation (r=- .80, pandLT) between internalized stigma and self-esteem. Similarly, also in spouses there was a significant negative correlation (r=-.39, pandlt between these two variables. The current study is concluded with the comment that in patients with remitted Schizophrenia and their spouses, high internalized stigma and its relation with low self-esteem require the attention of clinicians for better functional outcomes in patients and enhanced well-being in their spouses.