Table 2.

Qualitative interview guide

Focus Area	Sample Questions and Probes from Interview Protocol
Demographic Questions:	Age: Country: Education level (i.e., School/University): Ethnicity: Gender (Male/Female/Prefer not to say/Other):
Broad/General Mental Health Stigma Experiences:	1. Have you ever experienced stigma – unfairness, bias, or discrimination because of your mental health?  Can you describe how you first became aware of being stigmatized and what the experience was like for you? 2. How do you feel you’ve been affected by public-, or internalized stigma with regards to your mental health? Please explain how these two types of stigmas have affected you, for example, have they influenced your thoughts, feelings, or relationships with others.  If mentioning public but not elaborating, could you tell me more about how public stigma has affected you?  If mentioning internalized but not elaborating, could you tell me more about how your internalized stigma has affected you? 3. Who do you talk to about your mental health? Please explain your answer  How do these people react to your mental health condition? How does this make you feel?  How does the experience of stigma impact your relationships with your family? How about with your friendships? 4. Who do you not want to talk to about your mental health? Why?  How does it feel to hide your mental health (i.e., add stigma/psychological pain)? 5. Have you ever talked about your mental health online?  How has being online changed your experience of mental health stigma?
Specific Event Recalled:	6. Can you tell me about a specific time you felt stigmatized? What was it like for you? Was it public or internalized stigma? 7. Thinking back, how does the experience you have had influence the way that you socialize (i.e., spend time with others or spend time alone)?  How has this experience changed the way you feel around people with a mental health condition?  How has this experience changed the way you feel around people without a mental condition?  How does this specific experience influence your time alone?
Recovery Questions:	8. Thinking about stigma is there anyone (i.e., friend, clinician, guardian), or anything (i.e., self-help book, impactful mental health experience, mental health website or forum) that has helped you cope with your mental health?  Are there ever times you consider not doing these because of the opinions of other people?  Have other people protected you from feeling mental health stigma? If so, can you give an example? How has this influenced the way you think and feel? 9. In your opinion, what do you think should or could be done to prevent both public and internalized stigma, if anything? 10. In your experiences, what advice can you give others also living with a mental health condition?  How do you think it is best to deal with stigma?  Or how would you help others experiencing mental health stigma? 11. Is there anything else you would like to share?