Correlation of Stigma with Self-compassion in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Background & Aims: The bipolar disorder is important mental disorder, which is characterized by recurrent episodes of mania and depression. This chronic and complex disease affects the mood of the patient, causing continuous and abnormal mood changes from extremely good to extremely poor and depressed. These fluctuations often last for weeks or months. Frequent episodes of depression and mania affect the functioning of the individual in personal, professional, family, social, and cultural domains. Patients with the bipolar disorder experience a phenomenon known as stigma. Stigma is defined as a set of cognitions and behaviors that are activated by labeling, leading to social exclusion and isolation. The stigma of mental illness distinguishes the patients from other populations. The stigma of mental illness renders the patients incapacitated and socially isolated. In addition, the experience of stigma decreases the quality of life and health-seeking behaviors of the patients, threatening their socio-economic health. Subsequently, the social participation of patients with mental illness is disrupted, and they refrain from seeking social assistance. In fact, stigma leads to the rejection of patients with mental illness by the society, disrupting their emotional regulation and making them unable to have proper emotional regulation strategies. Furthermore, the stigma of mental illness causes the patients not to have appropriate coping strategies for the disease, hide their medical history from the medical staff, and avoid communicating with their friends after discharge from the hospital. Given the importance of the concept of stigma, identifying the positively correlated behaviors seems essential. Self-compassion is a positive behavior that may be associated with stigma. Individuals with high self-compassion are more likely to accept negative life events and have more accurate self-assessments and better mental health. Self-compassion is an important factor in the adaptive responses to the mood problems in patients with a history of recurrent depression. High self-compassion reduces the mental vulnerability of patients with mental illness to problems, their depression and social anxiety, shame caused by the illness, and self-criticism. In contrast, the and family history of mental disorders with stigma (P<0.05). However, no significant associations were observed between the demographic characteristics and self-compassion. Conclusion: The results indicated no significant correlation between stigma and self-compassion. However, significant associations were observed between the subscales of stigma with the isolation dimension of self-compassion, which were inversely and significantly correlated. Therefore, it could be concluded that as the patients further perceived the dimensions of discrimination, disclosure, and positive aspects of stigma, they were less inclined toward isolation. Stigma is an inherent cultural element rooted in the community, which is so strong and complex that even high self-compassion could not diminish its effects.