Mental health patients still suffering from stigma

Stigma in relation to people with mental health problems remains widespread, even though the number of those who last year required professional advice to treat their emotional and mental problems was quite high.

Twenty-two per cent of Maltese respondents admitted they would find it difficult to speak to someone with a “severe mental disorder”, according to a Eurobarometer survey published in Brussels. On the other hand, 61 per cent said the condition would not make any difference in the way they interacted with others and 17 per cent were unable to reply.

The stigma connected to mental health disorders in Malta compares with that in the rest of the EU, which, on average, returned similar results.

The survey’s conclusions, partly anticipated by Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea last week, were published on the occasion of World Mental Health Day on Monday.

The study, conducted by Misco last February, shows that, although not necessarily apparent like any other health problems, mental disorders, particularly depression, are quite widespread in Malta.

Fourteen per cent of Maltese people said they had resorted to professional help to treat mental and emotional problems over the 12-month period prior to the survey and 10 per cent admitted they had taken antidepressants for some time in the previous year, the majority to treat depression and a big bulk to address anxiety.

Depression also seems to be common in daily lives: 43 per cent of Maltese respondents admitted they felt depressed “most of the time” in the previous four weeks and another 17 per cent said they felt like that “all the time”. Only one per cent of respondents said they never felt depressed in the previous four-week period.

Asked how many days of work they missed apart from holidays during the four-week period, the overwhelming majority (74 per cent) said they never missed work and 15 per cent reported they remained at home for between two to five days. At the same time, 18 per cent of respondents feared their job security was threatened and 17 per cent said their work was never recognised by their bosses.