Self-stigma among people with serious mental illnesses: The use of focus groups to inform the development of a brief video intervention.

OBJECTIVE: People with mental illnesses may avoid or delay treatment due to a fear of labeling and discrimination, a phenomenon known as self-stigma. Self-stigma is a major barrier to care and creates obstacles to pursuing employment, independent living, and a fulfilling social life. We aimed to gather input from people with lived experience of mental illness to develop a social-contact-based, brief video-based intervention to reduce self-stigma. METHOD: = 9) additional focus groups were held after video development to gather feedback and suggested edits. Focus group transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Themes emerging in prevideo development included the negative effects of being diagnosed with severe mental illnesses, being stereotyped, the value of relatable recovery stories and seeing the person as a whole, and the utility of focusing on symptoms and experiences rather than diagnosis-specific language. Feedback in the postvideo focus groups was mainly favorable and resulted in edits related to language about "responsibility" and a disclaimer about using a professional actor. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: While participants' experiences of stigma are consistent with extant literature, this is the first study to elicit the perspectives of people living with mental illnesses in developing a video intervention to reduce self-stigma. Studies are needed to examine the efficacy of these videos in reducing self/public stigma. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).