Depression Stigma
Authors: Egon Tripodi, Chris Roth, Peter Schwardmann
Status: Accepted at the Journal of Public Economics
Status: Accepted at the Journal of Public Economics
People with mental illness are frequently discriminated against and stigmatized. We introduce a new measure of perceived depression stigma and examine the causal effect of perceived stigma on help-seeking in a sample of 1,844 Americans suffering from depression. We document that a large majority of our participants overestimate the extent of stigma associated with depression. An information intervention aimed at reducing perceived social stigma decreases the demand for psychotherapy. Merely prompting individuals to think about stigma has a similar effect. A mechanism experiment reveals that our interventions increase both participants' optimism about future mental health and their readiness to rely on friends and family, thereby reducing the perceived need for therapy.
Keywords:
Depression Stigma Information Psychotherapy Mental health Misperceptions
Depression Stigma Information Psychotherapy Mental health Misperceptions