| The U.S. Surgeon General identifies stigma as a significant obstacle to recovery from mental illness, resulting in poor treatment adherence and discrimination leading to poor self-image and isolation, and depriving the individual of full participation in society. This pervasive problem is particularly acute in the Asian American population, a group identified as significantly underusing mental health resources compared to other groups. This exploratory, mixed methods, outcome-based study sought to better understand mental health stigma in the Chinese American population through the eyes of Chinese American mental health consumers, and to assess the efficacy of an innovative, peer co-led intervention designed for Chinese American mental health consumers. Based on a prior intervention with Chinese American caregivers for people with mental illness, we sought to examine this intervention by modifying and applying it instead to mental health consumers. We hypothesized that the anti-stigma intervention would reduce self-stigma among Chinese American mentally-ill consumers with a history of psychosis. Our pilot study (N=9), conducted in a community-based, mental health clinic in the Chinatown neighborhood of a large city in the United States, provided quantitative evidence that supports that this intervention reduced stereotype awareness and stereotype agreement aspects of self-stigma. Qualitative data showed that the intervention helped empower and foster social support among participants. The results imply that this peer-based, culturally-specific anti-stigma intervention has the potential to help empower and reduce self-stigma among mental health consumers. |
