Lay beliefs about mental disorders: a comparison between the western and the eastern parts of Germany.

Background: Since the end of the Second World War the western and eastern parts of Germany have been exposed to very different social and cultural influences. It was our assumption that this should also be reflected in the beliefs about mental disorders held by the general public.

Methods: In autumn 1990, immediately after German reunification, a representative survey on lay concepts of schizophrenia and depression was carried out in both parts of Germany. In all, 2118 personal, fully structured interviews resulted in the West, 980 in the East.

Results: In general, there were more similarities than differences between West and East, particularly as concerns causal attributions (with psychosocial stress being most frequently seen as etiologically relevant) and treatment recommendations (with psychotherapy clearly favored over drug treatment). However, there were also some differences, most notably a stronger tendency in the West to define depressive behavior in psychiatric terms and to recommend established forms of psychiatric treatment for its management.

Conclusions: Our assumption that the exposure to different cultural influences should have led to discrepant beliefs about mental disorders was only partly confirmed. Especially with regard to schizophrenia, the prevalence of the dominant stereotype hardly differed between West and East.