TABLE 3.
Community attitudes towards mentally ill (N = 300).
| Statement | Results |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agree strongly | % | Agree slightly | % | Neutral | % | Disagree strongly | % | Disagree slightly | % | |
| 1. One of the main causes of mental illness is a lack of self-discipline and willpower. | 124 | 41.3 | 50 | 16.7 | 1 | 0.3 | 125 | 41.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2. There is something about people with mental illness that makes it easy to tell them from normal people. | 115 | 38.3 | 119 | 39.7 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 22.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3. As soon as a person shows signs of mental disturbance, he should be hospitalised. | 181 | 60.3 | 45 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 24.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 4. Mental illness is an illness like any other | 108 | 36.0 | 55 | 18.3 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 45.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 5. Less emphasis should be placed on protecting the public from people with mental illness. | 129 | 43.0 | 103 | 34.3 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 22.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 6. Mental hospitals are an outdated means of treating people with mental illness. | 127 | 42.3 | 57 | 19.0 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 38.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 7. Virtually anyone can become mentally ill. | 104 | 34.7 | 55 | 18.3 | 0 | 0 | 141 | 47.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8. People with mental illness have for too long been the subject of ridicule. | 106 | 35.3 | 127 | 42.3 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 22.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9. We need to adopt a far more tolerant attitude towards people with mental illness in our society. | 127 | 42.3 | 114 | 38.0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 19.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10. We have a responsibility to provide the best possible care for people with mental illness. | 134 | 44.7 | 105 | 35.0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 20.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 11. People with mental illness don’t deserve our sympathy. | 156 | 52.0 | 87 | 29.0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 19.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12. People with mental illness are a burden on society. | 143 | 47.7 | 95 | 31.7 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 20.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 13. Increased spending on mental health services is a waste of money. | 137 | 45.7 | 58 | 19.3 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 35.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14. There are sufficient existing services for people with mental illness. | 109 | 36.3 | 111 | 37.0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 26.6 | 0 | 0 |
| 15. People with mental illness should not be given any responsibility. | 104 | 34.7 | 104 | 34.7 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 30.6 | 0 | 0 |
| 16. A woman would be foolish to marry a man who has suffered from mental illness, even though he seems fully recovered. | 174 | 58.0 | 44 | 14.7 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 26.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 17. I would not want to live next door to someone who has been mentally ill. | 125 | 41.7 | 96 | 32.0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 26.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 18. Anyone with a history of mental problems should be excluded from taking public office. | 141 | 47.0 | 91 | 30.3 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 22.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 19. No one has the right to exclude people with mental illness from their neighbourhood. | 138 | 46.0 | 56 | 18.7 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 35.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 20. People with mental illness are far less of a danger than most people suppose. | 138 | 46.0 | 85 | 28.3 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 25.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 21. Most women who were once patients in a mental hospital can be trusted as babysitters. | 154 | 51.3 | 67 | 22.3 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 26.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 22. The best therapy for many people with mental illness is to be part of a normal community. | 128 | 42.7 | 104 | 34.7 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 22.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 23. As far as possible, mental health services should be provided through community-based table facilities. | 125 | 41.7 | 66 | 22.0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 36.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 24. Residents have nothing to fear from people coming into their neighbourhood to obtain mental health services. | 123 | 41.0 | 98 | 32.7 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 26.3 | 0 | 0 |
| 25. It is frightening to think of people with mental problems living in residential neighbourhoods. | 106 | 35.3 | 122 | 40.7 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 24.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26. Locating mental health facilities in a residential area downgrades the neighbourhood. | 130 | 43.3 | 45 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 41.7 | 0 | 0 |
| 27. People with mental health problems should have the same rights to a job as anyone else. | 96 | 32.0 | 128 | 42.7 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 25.3 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Taylor SM, Dear MJ. Scaling community attitudes toward the mentally ill. Schizophr Bull. 1981;7(2):225. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/7.2.225