SOME CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING PEOPLES VIEWS REGARDING NATURE OF MENTAL-ILLNESS

Reports the consequences of changing public conceptions of mental illness for the sufferer and his/her family. In 2 identically performed studies with a total of 405 undergraduates, 2 messages (one describing mental illness as a disease and the other as a product of social learning) were effective in changing beliefs. More important, the Ss receiving the disease message thought that a victim of mental illness could do less to help himself than did the Ss receiving the social learning message. In the 3rd study, 38 undergraduate females received similar messages and were given a therapy session. They were then asked to keep a journal for 1 wk and to make an entry in the journal every time a problem similar to one discussed in therapy arose. It was expected that the disease message Ss would feel less able to master the problems and, consequently, would think about them less frequently. The findings confirm the expectation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1978 American Psychological Association.