Experiences of stigma and discrimination among users of mental health services in Poland.

Stigmatization is commonly recognized as one of the main barriers to recovery and to social inclusion of people with mental illnesses. This exploratory study investigated the frequency, type, and sources of actual stigma and discrimination experiences among Polish psychiatric patients. A total of 442 people, treated in various psychiatric health care facilities in Warsaw, were interviewed with the use of the Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (CESQ).

[Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale--comparison of psychometric properties of the two instruments for rating a manic syndrome].

Aim: The Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Rating Scale (BRMAS) and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) are both popular rating scales for mania. Until now BRMAS has not had a Polish language version BRMAS, although it may be particularly useful because of its twin depression (melancholia) rating scale (BRMES). No attempt of evaluation of the scales were made in Poland until now.

[Usefulness of the GEOPTE scale--self-rating scale of social cognition for persons suffering from schizophrenia].

Aim: To analyse psychometric value of the Polish version of the GEOPTE Scale, a self-rating scale measuring social cognition among persons suffering from schizophrenic psychoses.

Method: Fifty patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia according to ICD-10 criteria were assessed by the scale under study. Analysis of its usefulness included: reliability (as internal consistency), validity - as content, construct, and diagnostic validity in relation to selected measures of mental state (CGI scale, PANSS), social (GAF scale, SOFAS), and cognitive functioning (WCST and N-back test), and feasibility of the scale - according to observed patients' coping with the task.

[Self-rating scales in schizophrenia: assessment of the practical applicability of the Paranoid-Depression Scale (PD-S), the Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS) and of two visual analogue scales].

Aim: To assess the practical feasibility of the Paranoid-Depressivity Scale (PD-S, Paranoid-Depresivitäts-Skala), the Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS, Frankfurter Befindlichkeitsskala), and two visual analogy scales of: sense of illness (WAC) and self-feeling (WAS).

Method: 210 patients with schizophrenia of various clinical courses. All patients in the study group were required to complete each scale twice, at 48 hr intervals.

[Self-rating scales in schizophrenia: validity assessment of the Paranoid-Depression Scale (PD-S), the Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS) and of two visual analogy scales].

Aim: To assess the validity of the Paranoid-Depressivity Scale (PD-S, Paranoid-Depresivitäts-Skala), the Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS, Frankfurter Befindlichkeitsskala), and of two visual analogy scales: the Sense of Illness Scale (WAC) and the Self-feeling Scale (WAS).

Method: 210 patients with schizophrenia of various clinical courses. Diagnostic validity was evaluated by comparing the results of self-rating with clinical assessment using the CGI, KOSS-C, BPRS, and KOSS-W scales.

[Self-rating scales in schizophrenia: assessment of the reliability of the Paranoid-Depressive Scale (PD-S) Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS). and two visual analogy scales].

Aim: To assess the reliability of the Paranoid-Depressive Scale (PD-S, Paranoid-Depresivitäts-Skala), the Frankfurt Self-feeling Scale (FBS, Frankfurter Befindlichkeitsskala), and of two visual analogy scales of a sense of illness (WAC) and of self-feeling (WAS).

Material: 210 patients with schizophrenia of various clinical courses.

Method: All patients in the study group were required to complete each scale twice (test-retest) at 48hr intervals, in order to assess each method's reproducibility.