Stigmatization: Addressing Self-Esteem and Personal Growth in Patients with Psychological and Physiological Illness

Abstract

This paper reviews comparison of the impact of perceived stigma on
self-esteem and personal growth of patients who are diagnosed with
psychological and physiological illness. The sample consisted of 188
out-door patients; 100 psychiatric patients of depression and 88
physical patients of diabetes taken from Khawaja Fareed Hospital and
Ashraf Naseer Hospital in Multan respectively. Perceived
Devaluation–Discrimination Scale, Index of Self-Esteem, and Personal
Growth Initiative Scale were used to collect information. Results
indicated the significant differences in measured variables. The
findings showed that psychiatric patients perceive higher stigma and
report lower degree of self-esteem and personal growth than diabetic
patients. Results further indicated that perceived stigma is negatively
associated with self-esteem and personal growth, and this relationship
is higher for psychiatric patients than diabetic patients.