(PS8-C65) A Comparison of Stigmatizing Language Used to Describe Personality Disorders

The labels used to describe mental illness can be highly stigmatizing. Personality disorders (PD) in particular are highly stigmatized, with individuals with PDs often described using pejorative terms. These descriptors can impact clinicians’ a priori expectations and increase the likelihood of stigmatization, discrimination, or early termination. The language used to describe PDs in alternative diagnostic classification systems may additionally contribute to the negative perception of these disorders. However, the degree to which the terms used in these diagnostic classification systems are stigmatizing has never been examined from the viewpoint of individuals with PDs or mental healthcare providers. This study aims to explore the level of perceived stigma brought on by the terms used and to compare which systems of classification are reported as less stigmatizing by healthcare providers and people with lived experience of a PD.
 

Five-hundred mental healthcare providers as well as five-hundred people with lived experience of a PD were recruited from social media and email listservs to take an online survey on experiences of stigma and stigmatizing attitudes towards people with PDs. Each participant rated descriptors from the four major classification systems for PDs (e.g., HiTOP, DSM-5 Categorical Model, DSM-5 Alternative Model, FFM Rating Form) on a five-point Likert scale the degree to which each descriptor is stigmatizing.
 

We will conduct a one-way ANOVA to assess for differences in perceived stigma between the four classification systems for both healthcare providers and people with lived experience of a personality disorder. Post-hoc analyses using Tukey's Honest Significant Differences will be used to examine all possible significant differences in the perception of stigmatizing language between the four classification systems.
 

Understanding the degree to which the terms used to describe personality pathology impact stigma against these disorders has important repercussions for research and clinical practice. If certain terms or classification systems are less stigmatizing than others to people with lived experience of PDs, this would provide valuable insight to clinicians on how best to communicate with their clients about these diagnoses.