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EPA-0679 - Stigmatization of Schizophrenia in Flemish Newspapers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

E. Thys ,
C.I. Struyven ,
M. Danckaerts  and
M. De Hert
E. Thys
Affiliation:
Psychosis, UPC KU Leuven campus Kortenberg, Brussel, Belgium
C.I. Struyven
Affiliation:
Child and Adolescent psychiatry, UPC KU Leuven campus Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
M. Danckaerts
Affiliation:
Child and Youth Psychiatry, UPC KU Leuven campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium
M. De Hert
Affiliation:
Neuroscience, UPC KU Leuven campus Kortenberg, Kortenberg, Belgium

Abstract

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Background:

A considerable social stigma is attached to psychiatric disorders in general. However, research also shows differences between psychiatric disorders related to stigma. There are indications that the portrayal of schizophrenia in the media is particularly negative.

Aim:

To compare the coverage of autism and schizophrenia in the Flemish newspapers regarding stigma.

Method:

On the websites of the seven Flemish newspapers all articles published between 2008 and 2012 were screened for the keywords autism/autistic and schizophrenia/schizophrenic. The collected articles (N=4,181) were then graded to stigmatizing content.

Results:

In the collected articles the coverage of autism was mostly positive and the coverage of schizophrenia was predominantly negative. The contrast is very substantial (p<0.0001) and the negative coverage of both disorders increased over time.

Conclusion:

The social stigma that rests on schizophrenia is poignantly reflected in the Flemish newspapers. The observation that a somewhat similar disorder such as autism is covered in a clearly more favorable way indicates that a more positive image of schizophrenia is not only desirable but also possible.

Type
FC07 - Free Communications Session 07: Schizophrenia
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 29 , Issue S1: Abstracts of the 22nd European Congress of Psychiatry , 2014 , pp. 1
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2014
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