The relationship between internalized of stigmatization and loneliness in patients with schizophrenia

The Relationship Between Internalized of Stigmatization and Loneliness in Patients with Schizophrenia Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the internalized of stigmatization and loneliness in patients with schizophrenia. Material and Method: This research was conducted as a relational descriptive created 250 patients with schizophrenia registered in Community Mental Health Center in the Province of Diyarbakır, Turkey. In the research 200 schizophrenia patients who eligible within the criterias of this research without going on for a sample selection and accepted to participate in this research were selected. Patient Information Form, UCLA Loneliness Scale and Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) Scale were used for data collection. The datas was collected between May 2018 and September 2018. Percentage distribution, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, independent samples t test, Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA and Correlation analysis were used in the evaluation of the data. Results: The loneliness level of patients who participated in this research detected as 57.20±10.38. The average in total point of patients' internalized stigma detected as 79.65±13.48. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between Loneliness Scale total scores and mean ISMIS sub-scale and total scores of the patients (p˂.05, r= .854 ). Conclusion: It was found that the level of stigmatization and loneliness was high in patients with schizophrenia. As the level of stigmatization of the patients increased, the level of loneliness increased too. It may be advisable to provide training by healthcare professionals in order to reduce the level of stigmatization and loneliness in patients with schizophrenia. Keywords: Internalized Stigmatization, Schizophrenia, Loneliness