Public Stigma Toward Persons with Suicidal Thoughts

Course overview

This course is based upon material published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior and is available as an open-access article. Objective: Suicidal persons often face public stigmatization which affects help-seeking behavior and may lead to an additional suicide risk. There is not much known about differences in stigmatizing attitudes concerning characteristics of affected persons. The present study investigates public stigma toward suicidal persons in Germany by focusing on differences concerning sex, age, and medical condition of the affected person. Method: A national telephone survey (N = 2,002) was conducted using case vignettes presenting a person with suicidal thoughts. Vignettes systematically varied in sex, age, and medical condition (depressive symptoms vs. cancer). Several components of stigma were assessed (weakness of will as a cause, separation, negative emotional reactions, and desire for social distance). Results: About 44% of the respondents agreed that a cause of suicidal thoughts is weakness of will, and two-thirds disagreed that they would feel and think the same as the described person. In terms of emotional reactions, fear was more pronounced than anger. Stigmatizing attitudes were particularly pronounced when the described person was female and depressive symptoms were presented. Conclusions: The magnitude of public suicide stigma varies depending on the characteristics of the described person. Groups that are at special risk of being stigmatized should be considered in anti-stigma programs. This course on the stigma associated with suicidal ideation is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate, and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop or increase their knowledge of stigmatization related to suicidal thoughts. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require clinical continuing education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A major benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Ludwig, Liebherz, Dreier, Harter, and Von Dem Knesebeck Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding suicidality stigma. Specifically, a professional will: Identify why public stigma is a major issue for persons affected by suicidality Describe the magnitude of public stigma toward persons with suicidal thoughts, depending on the characteristics of the suicidal person Recognize the emotional reactions evoked by suicidal thoughts Citation: Ludwig, Liebherz, Dreier, Harter and Von Dem Knesebeck, (2020), Public Stigma Toward Persons with Suicidal Thoughts Do Age, Sex, and Medical Condition of Affected Persons Matter Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 50(3) June.