Mental illness stigma lingers despite organism known as brain disease

Public perception of mental illness and dependence has changed significantly - and for the good - in the past 15 years. That doesn't mean, however, people feel comfortable working or living near or being friends with someone with mental illness, according to a major new survey.

Ten years of research: The study compared people's responses to vignettes involving mental illness and addiction to gauge public understanding of the illness and feelings toward those who are ill or enthusiastic. The surveys took place in 1996 and 2006.
The idea, the researchers said, was to charge whether major efforts to improve the treatment of mental conditions and eliminate stigma in the United States is working. Several sweeping efforts have been made in the past two decades to educate Americans on mental illness. A major theme of these campaigns is that mental illnesses and addiction are biological, brain-based, sometimes-inherited illnesses that are each "a disease like any other."