The stigma of mental illness remains a powerful negative attribute in all social relations. Stigma is many things – it is a marker for adverse experiences. First among these is a sense of shame. Mental illness, despite centuries of learning is still perceived as an indulgence, a sign of weakness. This shame is often worse than the symptoms, with people making efforts to conceal the illness from others. Secrecy acts as an obstacle to the presentation and treatment of mental illness at all stages. The reality of discrimination supplies an incentive to keep mental health problems a secret. International studies have shown discrimination against psychiatric patients in housing, employment, insurance, education, health and social services. A civilisation should be judged by how it treats its citizens with mental illness: discrimination is also about the conditions in which psychiatric patients live, mental health budgets and the priority which society allows these services to achieve.

As with racial prejudice, stereotypes make people easier to dismiss, and in so doing, the stigmatiser maintains social distance. The media perpetuate stigma, giving the public narrowly focussed stories based around stereotypes. In the Republic of Ireland, 57% believe that people with schizophrenia are violent; 45% said people with schizophrenia were "hard to talk to". This parallels the experience of physical disability, where sympathy is a pretext for social distance - the "does he take sugar?" strategy.

The results of a national opinion survey on schizophrenia and five other mental disorders were released in 1999. To view these results please click here.