Abstract
Introduction
The human rights of people diagnosed with mental illness in Indonesia have been routinely violated because of societal stigma associated with mental illness and deficiencies in the country’s mental healthcare services. Knowledge about internalized stigma among people diagnosed with schizophrenia in lower middle‐income Muslim countries is also scarce.
Aim
To identify the level of internalized stigma and related factors among people diagnosed with schizophrenia in Indonesia.
Method
A cross‐sectional survey was conducted with a purposive sample of 300 people diagnosed with schizophrenia from an urban Indonesian psychiatric hospital.
Results
Almost one‐third of the subjects had moderate to severe levels of internalized stigma, among which discrimination was the strongest type. Younger age, unemployment status, and having psychotic symptoms significantly increased the risk of internalized stigma when analyzed in a multivariable ordinal logistic regression.
Discussion
The present study firstly identified the high levels of internalized stigma among Indonesian individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Implications for Practice
Mental health nurses are suggested to provide early anti‐stigma illness management and family psychoeducation interventions to people diagnosed with schizophrenia and their family caregivers, helping them to develop an optimistic understanding about the concept of schizophrenia and mitigating the negative consequences of public and internalized stigma.