Community Attitude toward the Mentally Ill and its Related Factors in Kashan, Iran

Aims: Today, the prevalence of mental disorders is increasing. In Iran, more than 20% of people suffer from mental problems too. Despite all scientific developments in diagnosis and treatment of the mentally ill patients, presenting psychotherapy service is still facing some problems because of the negative attitudes which require more investigation. The current research aims to study the attitudes of Kashan city population about the mentally ill and the contributing factors. Materials and Methods: In this study, the samples were chosen randomly at two levels among health posts and their covered population in Kashan city (364 samples). Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill questionnaire was used for data collecting. The data were analyzed by SPSS software and statistical tests. Findings: Most of the participants had a positive attitude toward the mentally ill (with the mean of 3.66 from 5 score and standard deviation of 0.37). Attitude of women and higher‑educated people were, respectively, better than men (PV < 0.01) and lower‑educated people (PV < 0.01). There was no meaningful difference between attitude toward the mentally ill and employment, and there was no meaningful correlation between the attitude score and age either. Conclusion: The results confirm the role of education on the positive attitude of people toward the mentally ill. The positive attitude can show the appropriate awareness of people on these lines.