The relationship between social stigma and suicidal behaviour in patients with first episodes of psychosis

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a human tragedy, according to the WHO it kills 800,000 people a year, or what is the same, one person every 40 seconds. It is one of the leading causes of death in patients who are affected by schizophrenia spectrum disorders, in which the rate of attempted suicide ranges from 10-50%. People who suffered schizophrenia have had suicidal ideation at least once during their pathology, and their estimate suicide rate is 579/100,000. The highest rates were shown in recently diagnosed subjects (≤5 years from diagnosis). Social stigma is the product of several processes of labelling, stereotyping, distancing and segregation, degradation and discrimination, which generally occur in a context of asymmetric power. Data available indicates that perceived and experienced stigma as well as self-stigma are phenomena concerning a high percentage of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. An average of 64.5% of patients had perceived stigma, 55.9% had experienced stigma and 49.2% reported alienation (shame) as the most common aspect of self-stigma. This may act as a risk factor of committing suicide in these patients but is still not well studied. Objective: The main objective of the study is to determine the relationship of the social stigma on suicide behaviours in patients with first episodes of psychosis Study Design: A cross-sectional observational study that will be carried out in the Xarxa de Salut Mental i Addicions (XSMA) of the region of Girona between January 2020 and January 2023 Participant: The study will be formed by patients in first episodes of psychosis considering the diagnosis criteria of DSM-5. When the participants present a first psychotic episode, and they are hospitalized, they will be followed by the referring psychiatrists of the Equips d`Intervenció Precoç a la Psicosi (EIPP) or of the Unitat d`Hospitalització d`Aguts (UHA), of Parc Hospitalari Martí I Julià (PHMIJ). The selection will be done chasing a consecutive no probabilistic model