Opinions and beliefs of the Spanish population on serious mental illnesses (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder)

Introduction: To find out the opinions, beliefs and concerns of the Spanish population on serious mental diseases: schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Material and methods: An ad-hoc questionnaire was constructed for the survey. A panel of seven experts extracted the contents. The Societies that involved were: ASAENES, ABBA, FEAFES-ANDALUCIA, AMAFE, and AFAEM-5 advocacy societies were also involved. The questionnaire contained 12 questions about: knowledge of the diseases, diagnostic difficulties, symptoms, triggering factors, interference, treatments and effectiveness, beliefs and concerns. The questionnaire was administered during the IV Campaign of Social Awareness about Serious Mental Illness (Madrid and Seville, September-October 2009). Results: A total of 5,473 questionnaires were collected, 55.8% in Seville. The majority (66.2%) of the sample were women, and the mean age was 35 years (SD = 14.5). Both illnesses were known by 82% of the population, but 51% did not known any symptom of schizophrenia. Other notable opinions were; they are difficult to diagnose (59%), they were not diagnosed due to social rejection (27%), interfered quite a lot with daily life (49%) or prevented a normal life (42%), the effective treatments are psychological (72%). Beliefs were: social rejection, family burden, and patient suffering. Concerns included: dangerousness, social rejection, lack of information, and scarcity of resources. Conclusions: There is a lack of knowledge of the symptoms. The majority do not know about specific symptoms and highlight the negative ones. Combined pharmacological-psychological treatment is believed to be most effective. Social stigma and family and personal burden are concerns. (C) 2011 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.