Mental health stigma in a multicultural society: the case of Israel

Abstract

The paper reviews the available information on the stigma associatedwith mental health in a multicultural society such as that of Israel, where as usually, no group of the population is free of this complex and ubiquitous social phenomenon.To try to understand the process is reviewed the available scientific literature on the prevalence of stigma in mental health in different population sectors, putting it in relation with the knowledge that social psychology offers on social mechanisms of production and perpetuation of the stigma.Finally suggests some directions to face the heavy burden of stigma in people with mental illness.

Keywords

• Stigma
• mental illness
• multicultural society.