Data supporting: 'Strategies to overcome mental health stigma: insights and recommendations from young people with major depressive disorder (MDD)'

How to cite this Dataset

Prizeman, Katie (2024): Data supporting: 'Strategies to overcome mental health stigma: insights and recommendations from young people with major depressive disorder (MDD)'. University of Reading. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.17864/1947.001319

Description

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious and prevalent mood disorder in young people. Those with depression are met with stigma-others' negative societal views, including stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory behaviours (DeLuca, 2020) - concerning their mental health that extends to global judgments of them as individuals (Prizeman et al., 2023). Stigma associated with depression may drive non-disclosure, loneliness, and social isolation, as well as exacerbate depression symptoms (Achterbergh et al., 2020). Disclosing depression to others might not only make social connections more difficult, but it may also reduce the opportunity for treatment. Yet choosing to disclose one's mental health to supportive others could improve mental health (Mayer et al., 2022). As stigma may, in fact, be responsible for increased feelings of loneliness and a lack of disclosure, the aim of this research was to examine how young people with depression experience stigma and its impact on loneliness and social isolation, as well as their decisions to disclose their mental health and what recommendations they have for others.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with N=35 young people aged 18-25 years (M = 20.09). Participants met the criteria for clinical depression using the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (score >27) or had recently obtained a medical diagnosis of depression. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

This study provides new data on strategies young people with depression have for others to disclose their mental health and overcome stigma. Our research indicates that social, self-, and societal affirmation are important topics for improved wellbeing and recovery for individuals struggling with disclosure decisions and depression stigmas. These strategies highlight the need for guided policies and programs that provide mental health support to young people, and public awareness campaigns that guide young people to appropriate resources (i.e., support and intervention) via the UK NHS or UK governmental public health bodies, to directly reduce depression stigma.

Resource Type:

Dataset

Creators:

Prizeman, Katie