Mental disability and discriminatory practices: effects of social representations of the Mexican population.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of mental disorders in Mexico is 26.1%. This shows that an important percentage of the population suffers from mental disability. Despite this the country's healthcare system does not provide the least acceptable standard of care for the mentally disabled.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to describe the general population's social representations of the disabled and analyze their relationship with the discriminatory practices from the state towards the mentally ill with respect to their right to health.

METHODS: This study was a secondary analysis of the First National Survey on Discrimination in Mexico. In the survey 1,437 effective interviews that comprised a representative sample, were obtained from people aged 18 to 60 living in rural and urban settings. The response rate was 76.5%. The assessment tool was a self-administered questionnaire that yielded perceptions, attitudes, values and social representations about discrimination towards groups of people that supposedly were targets of discrimination by the general population. In the survey the mentally ill were included under disability. As a secondary analysis of the survey for the purpose of this study, we selected a subset of questions that provided important information about social representations of the general Mexican population towards persons with disabilities. The general population's social representations of the disabled were analyzed.

RESULTS: The disabled are the second group after the elderly perceived as the most discriminated and neglected and bearing more suffering. A whole set of negative representations concerning the disabled, such as lack of acceptance and respect, low self-confidence, mistreatment, incomprehension, isolation, intolerance, indifference and bad attitudes from others, were elicited.

CONCLUSIONS: Social representations are social correspondents of the discriminatory practices that the state exerts toward the mentally ill with respect to their right to health. These representations serve to maintain, naturalize and legitimize these practices. All sectors of society should make an effort to change the negative social representations towards this vulnerable section of society.