RESEARCH WEEKLY: October Research Roundup for Halloween By Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about severe mental illness (SMI) and summarizes recently published research reports or developments. This month’s roundup is about stigma, in recognition of the often-harmful stereotypes of people with SMI depicted in Halloween films and attractions. As we wrote in a blog in 2016 — Serious mental illness is no laughing matter. With a host of misconceptions that patients face, it’s especially disheartening to find horrendous depictions of people with mental illness at “fun” haunted house attractions at Halloween. This coming holiday is no exception, at theme parks haunted asylums abound, often portraying tortured, violent patients, chained to beds or undergoing electro shock treatments. Television shows, like the popular comedy Modern Family, show haunted asylums as the scariest place to be at Halloween. Costumes include suicide “kits” and strait jackets. The message is clear: People with mental illness are violent patients to be feared. Datapoint of the month 16% higher perceptions of dangerousness Perceptions of dangerousness toward people with schizophrenia among the general public increased 16% since 1996, according to research published a few years ago in “JAMA Network Open.” This stigma, or the prejudice and discrimination attached to mental illness, increased in a 20-year-period, despite the increase in awareness of schizophrenia's classification as a medical condition, as measured by the same research. As I wrote in an August 2022 “Research Weekly” blog, these findings suggest stigma reduction strategies focused on health literacy or mental health awareness campaigns in the general population may not have the desired effect in addressing stigma toward SMI. Research of the month Using a simulation to address stigma and promote empathy towards SMI SMI, and especially disorders that include psychosis, such as schizophrenia, are often misunderstood. This misunderstanding and unawareness by others of what living with these disorders is like can contribute to the negative stigma toward individuals living with SMI. Dr. Patricia Deegan, a clinical psychologist with lived experience with experiencing auditory hallucinations, developed a simulation training curriculum, “Hearing Voices That Are Distressing,” that includes audio and videos designed to simulate what it is like to experience an auditory hallucination. Research published earlier this year suggests that this training is effective in reducing stigma while improving empathy towards people with SMI among criminal justice college students. After participating in the training program, one student reported, “after experiencing this, it helped me to have empathy for those who deal with this every day, because it is a hard battle to fight.” Additionally, the findings indicate that students had an increased understanding and knowledge about SMI after participating in the simulation and may be able to develop more meaningful and effective responses to the needs of those living with SMI as a result. Bratina, M.P. et al. (May 2023). Experiential learning with criminal justice students: Demonstrating knowledge and showing empathy toward persons with serious mental illness. Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Personal experience with SMI reduces stigma in U.S. nurses Negative stigma toward people living with SMI can also be present in the very people expected to help — clinical providers and nurses. In research published earlier this year in “International Journal of Mental Health Nursing,” the study authors conducted an online survey of professional nurses across the United States. Nurses that specialized in mental health care had lower levels of stigma and higher knowledge about mental illness than nurses from other professions. However, having a personal experience of mental illness or a friend or family member who has a mental illness was the largest predictor in having lower stigma towards mental illness. The authors conclude that medical/surgical nurses in particular could benefit from targeted stigma-reduction mental illness education programs. Kolb, K., et al. (January 2023). Stigma towards patients with mental illness: An online survey of United States nurses. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq is the director of research at Treatment Advocacy Center. 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