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Bu sayfa, 26. Dünya Psikiyatri Kongresi'nde sunulan çalışmanın yapay zekâ desteğiyle hazırlanmış Türkçe özetidir. Çalışmanın sahibi sunan yazarlardır; atıf için orijinal kaynağa başvurun.

SO251

Unpacking stigma: Lessons learned and future directions from a qualitative exploration of culture, religion, and mental disorders in Saudi Arabia

UNRAVELING THE STIGMA: LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS FROM A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF CULTURE, RELIGION, AND MENTAL DISORDERS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Stigma experienced by people living with mental disorders in Saudi Arabia is shaped by religious and cultural interpretations; as mental health knowledge increases, faith becomes a source of support, whereas a lack of knowledge deepens public stigma.

The study aimed to understand the experiences of stigma, challenges, and coping strategies of people living with mental disorders in Saudi Arabia, and to inform stigma-reduction initiatives and policy adaptations through context-specific insights. Using a qualitative descriptive design, semi-structured, in-depth interviews lasting 30 to 60 minutes were conducted with 12 purposively sampled adults; the data were examined using reflexive thematic analysis within the framework of the Stigma Mitigating Conceptual Model. Four main themes and nine subthemes were identified, reflecting the impact of stigma across the domains of knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The main challenges reported were social exclusion and negative judgments, limited mental health knowledge, religious misinterpretations (weak faith, insufficient worship, the evil eye, or witchcraft), and shame and concealment. Public stigma and self-stigma were experienced as mutually reinforcing, affecting family and social life, work and education, physical health, and emotional well-being. Participants’ strategies for mitigating stigma included family support, mental health knowledge, open discussion, peer connections, positive coping and reframing, and drawing on faith as a source of comfort; greater mental health knowledge highlighted Islamic principles of compassion and support, whereas a lack of knowledge increased public stigma and fears that a person was affected by the evil eye or was insufficiently observant in worship. In conclusion, the findings were considered potentially useful in adapting care and interventions to the Middle Eastern context, given that mental health care has thus far been guided predominantly by Western perspectives; education, humanization, engagement of families and communities, and co-design and evaluation with people with lived experience were identified as necessary steps. The number of participants was reported as 12 in the poster and 13 in the conference abstract; the poster has been used as the source here.

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