John A Naslund1, Davy Deng2. 1. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mental health stigma is a major barrier to seeking help, and leads to poor quality of life and social withdrawal for individuals living with mental illness. These concerns are especially severe in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) that face a disproportionate share of the global burden of mental illnesses. With growing access to digital technologies in LMICs, there may be new opportunities to address mental health stigma. This review considers the potential for emerging digital technologies to advance efforts to challenge mental health stigma in LMICs. METHODS: Promising digital strategies to reduce mental health stigma were identified through searching the peer-reviewed literature. Drawing from the Mental Illness Stigma Framework, these studies of digital strategies were grouped into three categories: 1) protest; 2) education, and 3) contact. RESULTS: These three categories align with established stigma reduction programs. Digital strategies could expand the reach of or complement existing efforts. There are challenges with digital stigma reduction strategies, including the need for cultural adaptation of these programs to diverse contexts and settings, consideration of reliable measurement of mental health related stigma, and risks that digital media could perpetuate the spread of misinformation and exacerbate concerns pertaining to mental health stigma. CONCLUSION: This review highlights the promise of technology for addressing mental health stigma in LMICs. This is imperative in the face of growing demand for mental health services owing to the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasing reliance on digital platforms among individuals in most countries.
BACKGROUND: Mental health stigma is a major barrier to seeking help, and leads to poor quality of life and social withdrawal for individuals living with mental illness. These concerns are especially severe in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) that face a disproportionate share of the global burden of mental illnesses. With growing access to digital technologies in LMICs, there may be new opportunities to address mental health stigma. This review considers the potential for emerging digital technologies to advance efforts to challenge mental health stigma in LMICs. METHODS: Promising digital strategies to reduce mental health stigma were identified through searching the peer-reviewed literature. Drawing from the Mental Illness Stigma Framework, these studies of digital strategies were grouped into three categories: 1) protest; 2) education, and 3) contact. RESULTS: These three categories align with established stigma reduction programs. Digital strategies could expand the reach of or complement existing efforts. There are challenges with digital stigma reduction strategies, including the need for cultural adaptation of these programs to diverse contexts and settings, consideration of reliable measurement of mental health related stigma, and risks that digital media could perpetuate the spread of misinformation and exacerbate concerns pertaining to mental health stigma. CONCLUSION: This review highlights the promise of technology for addressing mental health stigma in LMICs. This is imperative in the face of growing demand for mental health services owing to the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasing reliance on digital platforms among individuals in most countries.
Entities:
Keywords:
Digital technology; Low-income and middle-income countries; Mental illness; Stigma
Authors: Nancy H Liu; Gail L Daumit; Tarun Dua; Ralph Aquila; Fiona Charlson; Pim Cuijpers; Benjamin Druss; Kenn Dudek; Melvyn Freeman; Chiyo Fujii; Wolfgang Gaebel; Ulrich Hegerl; Itzhak Levav; Thomas Munk Laursen; Hong Ma; Mario Maj; Maria Elena Medina-Mora; Merete Nordentoft; Dorairaj Prabhakaran; Karen Pratt; Martin Prince; Thara Rangaswamy; David Shiers; Ezra Susser; Graham Thornicroft; Kristian Wahlbeck; Abe Fekadu Wassie; Harvey Whiteford; Shekhar Saxena Journal: World Psychiatry Date: 2017-02 Impact factor: 49.548