A unitary theory of stigmatisation: pursuit of self-interest and routes to destigmatisation.

BACKGROUND: Stigmatisation is of increasing importance in relation to racism, ageism and sexism but also as an impediment to treating patients. AIMS: To develop a theoretical foundation to help comprehend the core meaning of stigmatisation and to guide practical anti-stigmatisation measures.
METHOD: Personal reflection; re-interpretation of stigmatisation and reformulation of the relevant concepts.
RESULTS: Emergence of a unitary theory of stigmatisation.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the structure of stigmatisation one could explore six levels of intervention in anti-stigmatisation campaigns: the cognitive level - educational intervention; the affective level - psychological intervention; the discrimination level - legislative intervention; the denial level - linguistic intervention; the economic origin - political intervention; the evolutionary origin - intellectual and cultural intervention. As destigmatisation has to challenge fundamental human tendencies, anti-stigmatisation campaigns have to be continuous, non-stop, open-ended projects aiming at keeping alive thought processes that moderate and humanise the pursuit of self-interest and the urge to survive in a competitive world.