Depression stigma reduction: The impact of models of depression on stigma and treatment seeking

One out of six individuals will experience depression during their lifetime, yet the majority of these individuals do not seek treatment. One widely recognized factor that negatively impacts treatment seeking is stigma. This has led to initiatives supporting the development and dissemination of depression anti-stigma efforts. These efforts are dominated by the biomedical model that presents depression as a medical disease. Alternately, the contextual model emphasizes the role of environmental influences. This study compared a biomedical model and a contextual model within depression anti-stigma programs with 115 non-treatment seeking community members with elevated depressive symptoms. The main hypothesis was that the contextual model compared to the biomedical model would be more effective at decreasing stigma and increasing treatment seeking. Results indicated that immediately following the programs the contextual model was superior to the biomedical model at impacting treatment seeking stigma, however neither depression anti-stigma program had a long term impact on stigmatizing attitudes or a differential impact on behavior change. Limitations are highlighted and future research directions based on Community-Based Participatory Research are discussed.