From the sky to the earth: Understanding the lived experiences of clients with psychiatric disorders of stigma

Introduction: The global prevalence of stigma associated with psychiatric disorders is undeniable. People with psychiatric disorders continue to suffer a great deal of prejudice, discrimination, and stigma from the mainstream of the community. Hence, this human disability is a global emergency and requires immediate emprise and long-term actions. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the stigma phenomenon based on the experiences of patients with psychiatric disorders.Materials and Methods: This research is a qualitative study of the Hermeneutic phenomenology in Ibn-e-Sina Psychiatric Hospital in Mashhad-Iran. In the qualitative phase, 12 clients with psychiatric disorders were selected through the purposive sampling. Data were analyzed by the interpretive methods of Dickelman, Allen, and Tanner (1989).Results: In this study, one constitutive pattern titled from the sky to the earth and 6 themes and 23 sub-themes of the phenomenon under study were discovered. Themes include Family, suffering nest; Society, the end of darkness; Psychiatric hospital; unsafe place, Inexpressive Media, Broken personality; and Vortex of stigma.Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that clients with psychiatric disorders received stigma from multiple sources that have shadowed their various areas of life and have led to adverse outcomes.