Internalized stigma and the quality of life and self-esteem of individuals with bipolar disorder

Objectives: This study was conducted in order to examine the effect of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics that are thought to have an impact on the internalized stigma, quality of life, and self-esteem of individuals with bipolar disorder and to determine the relationship between these variables. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 105 participants during the remission period in a community mental health center in Izmir City, Turkiye. The participants were interviewed face-to-face, and data were collected in December 2017 and April 2018 using the Socio-Demographic Data Form, Internalized Stamp Scale in Mental Diseases (ISMI), World Health Organization Quality Life Scale-Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF), and the Rosenberg Self-Respect Scale (RSES). The number, percentage, and average were used in descriptive statistics. Comparisons of in-ter-group socio-demographic and clinical variables are made using Spearman's correlation analysis, while the relation-ship between internalized stigma, quality of life, and self-esteem, which are conceptual variables, is evaluated using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis. Results:The patients' mean ISMI score was 58.56 +/- 18, and the mean WHOQOL-BREF score was 96.48 +/- 19.98. In addition, it was determined that 26% of the patients had low self-esteem. The socio-demographic and descriptive characteristics of the patients included education (p<0.05), income (p<0.001), employment status (p<0.01), a physical illness accom-panying their mental illness (p<0.05), and the presence of a suicide attempt (p<0.05). It was determined that there was a significant difference between the groups on all scale scores. There is a strong negative relationship between ISMI and WHOQOL-BREF (r:-0.782, p<0.001) and RSES (r:-0.773, p<0.001), and a positive relationship between RSES and WHOQOL-BREF (r:0.749, p<0.001). Conclusion: As internalized stigma increases, the quality of life and self-esteem decrease. For this reason, it is recom-mended to establish intervention programs to reduce the perceived level of stigma, improve their capacity to cope with and manage stigma, and increase their quality of life and self-esteem.