|
KMID : 0897520030080020116
|
|
Journal of Korean Association of Social Psychiatry
2003 Volume.8 No. 2 p.116 ~ p.125
|
|
|
Stigma Attached to Jeongshin-Bunyol-Byung, the Korean Term of Schizophrenia
|
|
Min Sung-Kil
Beyn Keyng-Min
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
Objectives：The purpose of this study was to investigate the stigma attached to the Korean term, jeongshin-bunyol-byung, for which the literal meaning is split-mind disease, and which is the Korean term for schizophrenia.
Methods：A questionnaire was sent to 312 Korean psychiatrists in both university and general hospitals to ask about their experiences and opinions regarding the stigma which patients with schizophrenia and their families, as well as members of the general public, attach to the Korean term, jeongshin-bunyol-byung. Of the 312 psychiatrists solicited, 229 replied to the questionnaire. The returned information was subjected to statistical analysis.
Results：Many psychiatrists reported that patients with schizophrenia and their families, as well as members of the general public, had a poor opinion of the disorder, in view of its etiology, incurability and dangerousness, and had a strong desire that the fact of their having the disorder not be made known to the pubic, and even asked that the diagnostic term used on the medical certificate be changed. Accordingly, many psychiatrists hesitated to inform both their patients and their patients’ families of the diagnosis of jeongshin-bunyol-byung, due to the possible psychological trauma which this might cause them, and even considered using another term. Most psychiatrists agreed with the current concept of schizophrenia, but 75.2% of them thought the that term jeongshin-bunyol-byung was inappropriate, 30.1% of them related its inappropriateness to stigma, 29.7% of them related its inappropriateness to the incompatibility between the meaning of the diagnosis and the known nature of the disorder, and 24.5% of them felt that it should be renamed. The number of psychiatrists who reported this disorder as being dangerous or who had hesitated to inform their patients of the correct diagnosis was significantly higher in the group of psychiatrists who considered the term jeongshin-bunyol-byung to be inappropriate. However, mostpsychiatrists also considered that the process of renaming this disorder should be undertaken with caution and the final decision be based on scientific research and consensus.
Conclusion：These results suggest that many Korean psychiatrists consider that the Korean term, jeongshin-bunyol-byung constitutes a serious stigma problem, and that this term is also inappropriate for representing the real nature of the disorder.
|
|
|
KEYWORD
|
|
|
Jeongshin-bunyol-byung, Schizophrenia, Stigma, Korea
|
|
|
FullTexts / Linksout information
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listed journal information
|
|
|
|