Gender-based shame-focused attitude of general public toward mental illness: Evidence from Jharkhand, India

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the attitude of the general public toward the mental illness in Jharkhand. Material and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study with a sample size of 240 consisting of a male (163) and female (77) of the general population was done. The study was conducted in the urban and rural areas of Hazaribagh district based on a simple random sample technique. To collect data, Attitude Toward Mental Health Problem (ATMHP) was used. The sociodemographic profile has been calculated with descriptive statistics, and Mann–Whitney U-test has been used to find the significant differences in attitude score. Results: Males and females are both having positive attitude attitudes toward mental illness. Females are having a more positive attitude than males since the mean score is lower in all the four domains of ATMHP (9.39 ± 7.03 > 7.51 ± 5.87, 13.36 ± 9.87 > 9.67 ± 9.30, 5.52 ± 4.97 > 4.35 ± 4.59, 7.82 ± 6.34 > 5.53 ± 4.83, 6.41 ± 4.96 > 4.57 ± 4.46). However, a significant difference has not been found in two domains of ATMHP at 0.05 significant statistical levels. After controlling the co-variates through multinomial logistic regression, males showed 3.7 times odds of developing shame than female toward family member and statistically significant differences were found at less than P value 0.05 levels. Conclusions: People have started to comprehend and empathize with the patient and the family of the mentally ill, and they do not feel shame in admitting, seeking help, and reaching family to help.