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Abstract:
Schizophrenia, mental health literacy and the internet
Mental health literacy, i.e. having appropriate knowledge about the nature and treatment of mental disorders, is deplorably low in the general population. This is especially true for schizophrenia, which for most people is an enigmatic disease, characterized by wrong stereotypes, such as split personality', dangerous', chronic' and incurable', which are nourished by the press, the movies and television, and are an important reason for stigmatization and discrimination.
Help seeking is often delayed, in order to avoid these negative consequences, and in many cases help is never asked for. Although the reasons for stigma are not only rooted in limited and wrong information, the increasing use of the internet has created some hope that information available on the web might have anti-stigma effects. Also, once the disorder is diagnosed, most patients and their family members look for independent information, and given its anonymous and cheap accessibility, the internet is increasingly used for that purpose. It is unclear though, how good the quality of such information is.
The presentation will try to answer this question, relying on the literature and an own study (Schrank, Seyringer, Berger, Katschnig, Amering: Schizophrenia and Psychosis on the Internet, submitted for publication). Topics dealt with include accessibility and readability, content and quality of the information, and interaction possibilities (including chat rooms) .Results are not uniform. It is concluded that mental health professionals should be well informed about what their clients can find on the internet, not the least because this may profoundly influence their relationship.
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