Purpose: Attitudes toward schizophrenia and depression have evolved differently over the last decades, exposing people with schizophrenia to growing stigma. Classic descriptions of schizophrenia symptoms as being particularly unrelatable might offer an explanation for this gap in attitudes that has not yet been tested. We examine to what extent relatability explains the difference in social distance toward people with depression or schizophrenia.
Methods: We developed the 8-item "Relatability Scale", measuring to what extent people can relate to someone described as having either depression or schizophrenia, and used it in an online quota sample of 550 respondents in Germany. Beyond, we elicited the desire for social distance, continuum beliefs, emotional reactions, perceived dangerousness, general empathy, and previous contact.
Results: The Relatability Scale showed good psychometric properties and construct validity. Differences in relatability alone explained 63.6% of this difference in social distance between depression and schizophrenia. Adding continuum beliefs increased this amount to 83.0%. All other variables combined explained 53.2% of the difference in social distance between disorders.
Conclusion: Differences in both relatability and continuum beliefs seem key to understanding different reactions to someone with depression or schizophrenia. Anti-stigma interventions could be optimized in order to increase relatability and continuum beliefs particularly regarding people with severe, psychotic mental disorders.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02807-x | DOI Listing |
Front Psychiatry
December 2024
West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Background: Psychiatric illness is thought to be a brain somatic crosstalk disorder. However, the existing phenomenology-based Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic framework overlooks various dimensions other than symptoms. In this study, we investigated the associations between peripheral blood test indexes with various symptom levels of major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SCZ) to explore the availability of peripheral blood test indexes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States.
Introduction: The number of insular gyri is elevated in patients with schizophrenia. Thus, it has potential as a marker of early neurodevelopmental abnormalities. However, currently it remains unclear whether patients with other neuropsychiatric disorders, such as affective disorders, also have this gross brain anatomical feature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Affect Disord
December 2024
Department of Sleep and Psychology, Chongqing Health Center for Women and Children, Chongqing 401147, China; Department of Sleep and Psychology, Women and Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 401147, China. Electronic address:
Background: Maternal smoking around birth (MSAB) and early-life breastfeeding (BAB) represent critical factors that may exert enduring effects on neuropsychiatric health. Although previous research has examined these exposures separately, the combined impact of both on disorders such as ADHD, ASD, BD, MDD, ANX, and SCZ remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the causal relationships between MSAB and BAB and the risk of developing these neuropsychiatric disorders through Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurosci Biobehav Rev
December 2024
Neuroscience Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Epilepsy Research Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Münster University, Germany; Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatam Alanbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:
The rising prevalence of treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric disorders underscores the need for innovative and effective treatment strategies. The gut microbiota (GM) plays a pivotal role in the progression of these diseases, influencing the brain and mental health through the gut-brain axis (GBA). The vagus nerve plays a significant role in the GBA, making it a key area of focus for potential novel therapeutic interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Neuropsychopharmacol
December 2024
Psychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Background: Negative symptoms of schizophrenia represent an unmet therapeutic need for many patients on whom pentoxifylline may be effective in terms of its dopaminergic, anti-inflammatory, and cerebral blood flow-increasing properties. This study aimed to evaluate pentoxifylline as a therapeutic agent for improving negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Methods: Chronic schizophrenia outpatients experiencing significant negative symptoms were randomly allocated to receive pentoxifylline 400 mg or matched placebo q12hr for eight weeks.
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