‘Since people who have mental illness are stigmatised, their service is also stigmatised. You get a massive hospital building and there is no mental health facility’: exploring perceptions of mental health, stigma of mental illness, care-seeking and service use in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia

Key Points

• The aim is to understand how stigma affects mental health service provision and user perceptions in Ethiopia.
• Conducted qualitative interviews with service users and carers
• Explored perceptions related to mental illness and stigma
• Analyzed barriers to accessing mental health services
• Stigma significantly impacts the willingness to seek care
• Service users reported limited mental health facilities available
• Widespread lack of knowledge about mental illness was identified