Mental health stigma among Oman Medical Speciality Board (OMSB) residents

Abstract

Background

Arab/Islamic culture such as those in Oman has been prescribed to be part of “collective culture” where family is central to one's identity. It is not clear how mental illness is perceived among young doctors in Oman in the light of modernization and acculturation.

Aims

Explore the socio-cultural teaching impact on attitudes towards mental health problems among Omani physicians.

Method

The consenting residents were asked to fill self-reported questionnaire Attitudes towards Mental Health Problems (ATMHP). It measure: external shame (beliefs that others will look down on themselves self if one have mental health problems); internal shame (related to negative self-evaluations); and reflected shame (believing that one can bring shame to their family/community). Socio-demographic information was also sought, including age, gender and previous contact with a person with mental illness.

Results

One hundred and seventy residents filled the questionnaire. The response rate was > 80%. The majority were female. It showed elevated scores in indices of external shame and reflected shame. However, having a history of mental distress or having contact with a person with mental illness have moderate indices external shame and reflected shame.

Conclusion

This study suggests that medical education has little eroded societal teaching among physicians under training in Oman. Thus, their attitude toward mental disorder appears to be expressed in term of external shame and reflected shame, which, in turn, encapsulate cultural patterning of shame and the centrality of family identity in Oman. Such socio-cultural teaching could lay groundwork for further research to mitigate mental illness in Oman.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.