Mental health stigma statistics

Stigma means that people judge, avoid or treat someone unfairly because of a mental health condition. The World Health Organization says many people with mental disorders also experience stigma, discrimination and violations of human rights. The Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination in mental health reports that many people describe stigma as worse than the condition itself.

Stigma has no single rate. Attitude surveys ask the public what they believe about people with a mental illness, often after a short case story about one person. Experience surveys ask people with a condition how others have treated them, or how they expect others to treat them.

So every figure below names the survey, who it asked and what it measured. Figures from different surveys answer different questions, so read each one with its label.

What people with schizophrenia or depression report

The INDIGO studies interviewed people with schizophrenia, and later people with depression, in many countries. Both used a version of the Discrimination and Stigma Scale. It asks about unfair treatment people have met, and about times they expected unfair treatment and held back.

• Among people with schizophrenia interviewed in 27 countries, 47% said others had treated them unfairly in making or keeping friends. (survey, published 2009, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Among people with schizophrenia interviewed in 27 countries, 43% said family members had treated them unfairly. (survey, published 2009, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Among people with schizophrenia interviewed in 27 countries, 29% said others had treated them unfairly in finding a job. (survey, published 2009, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Among people with schizophrenia interviewed in 27 countries, 64% expected unfair treatment when applying for work, training or education. (survey, published 2009, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Among people with schizophrenia interviewed in 27 countries, 72% felt the need to conceal their diagnosis. (survey, published 2009, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Among adults with major depressive disorder interviewed in 35 countries, 79% reported experiencing discrimination in at least one area of life. (survey, published 2012, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Among adults with major depressive disorder interviewed in 35 countries, 37% had stopped themselves from starting a close personal relationship. (survey, published 2012, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Among adults with major depressive disorder interviewed in 35 countries, 25% had stopped themselves from applying for work. (survey, published 2012, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²

Stigma and seeking help

The World Mental Health surveys asked people with a mental disorder who felt they needed treatment, but had not received it, why not. The authors note that self-stigma and avoiding a label can relate to wanting to handle the problem alone.

• In the World Mental Health surveys, 63.8% of adults with a past-year disorder who saw a need for treatment but had not received it wanted to handle the problem on their own. (survey, 2001-2009 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁵

North America

Canada's figure comes from its national mental health survey. It asked people who had used services for a mental health problem whether others held negative opinions about them or treated them unfairly.

• In a national health survey in Canada, 24.4% of people who had used mental health services in the past year felt others held negative opinions about them or treated them unfairly. (survey, 2012 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴

South America

Brazil's figures come from an in-person survey of adults in the city of São Paulo, not the whole country. Interviewers presented a short case story about a person with schizophrenia, then asked how dangerous the person seemed and how others would react.

• Among adults aged 18 to 65 in the city of São Paulo, 74.2% saw a person with schizophrenia, described in a short case story, as potentially dangerous. (survey, published 2010, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶
• Among adults aged 18 to 65 in the city of São Paulo, 57.2% saw a person with schizophrenia, described in a short case story, as capable of arousing discrimination in society. (survey, published 2010, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶

Europe

England's figures come from the Attitudes to Mental Illness survey, used to evaluate the national Time to Change anti-stigma programme. They are changes in scale scores, not shares of people, and each is a change over a stated period, not a current level. The attitude scores improved over the whole period, but they also fell in the most recent years of the series. The GAMIAN-Europe figures come from a postal survey of members of mental health non-governmental organisations, so they describe people already linked to those groups ³.

• In England's Attitudes to Mental Illness survey, adults' attitude scores towards people with mental illness improved by 9.4% over 2008-2023. (survey, 2008-2023 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁷
• In England's Attitudes to Mental Illness survey, adults' scores on a scale of willingness to interact with people with mental illness fell by 10.2% over 2019-2023. (survey, 2019-2023 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁷
• In a postal survey across European countries, 41.7% of members of mental health non-governmental organisations who had schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder reported moderate or high self-stigma. (survey, published 2010, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³
• In a postal survey across European countries, 69.4% of members of mental health non-governmental organisations who had schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder reported moderate or high perceived discrimination. (survey, published 2010, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³

Africa

Nigeria's figures come from a household survey in three Yoruba-speaking states, so they describe that region rather than the whole country. Ethiopia's figures come from interviews with relatives of people with schizophrenia or major affective disorders in a rural area. They describe stigma that families perceived or had experienced.

• Among household residents in three Yoruba-speaking states of Nigeria, 96.5% believed that people with mental illness are dangerous because of violent behaviour. (survey, published 2005, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸
• Among household residents in three Yoruba-speaking states of Nigeria, 82.7% said they would be afraid to have a conversation with a person with mental illness. (survey, published 2005, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸
• Among household residents in three Yoruba-speaking states of Nigeria, only 16.9% said they would consider marrying a person with mental illness. (survey, published 2005, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸
• Among relatives of people with schizophrenia or major affective disorders in rural Ethiopia, about 75% felt stigmatised because of the illness in the family. (survey, published 2001, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁹
• Among relatives of people with schizophrenia or major affective disorders in rural Ethiopia, 37% wanted to conceal the fact that a relative was ill. (survey, published 2001, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁹

Asia

Japan's figures come from an online panel survey that used quotas to match the population by region and gender. Some questions followed a short case story about a person with major depression or schizophrenia.

• In Japan, 54% of adults in a national online panel with regional and gender quotas said they would be willing to seek treatment. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹⁰
• In Japan, 39% of adults in a national online panel with regional and gender quotas worried that treatment would hurt their job opportunities. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹⁰
• In Japan, 85% of adults in a national online panel with regional and gender quotas wanted social distance from a person with major depression described in a short case story. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹⁰

Middle East

Saudi Arabia's figure comes from the Saudi National Mental Health Survey, a national household survey of Saudi citizens. It asked people with a mental disorder who saw a need for help, but had used no services, why they had not sought care.

• Among Saudi citizens aged 15 to 65 with a past-year mental disorder who saw a need for help but used no services, 82.0% wanted to handle the problem on their own. (survey, 2011-2016 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹¹

Oceania

Australia's figures come from a national survey of an online panel recruited by random sampling. Each person read one short case story and said whether they agreed with statements about the person in it.

• In Australia, 61.9% of adults in a national probability-based online panel agreed that a person with long-term schizophrenia, described in a short case story, is unpredictable. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹²
• In Australia, 23.3% of adults in a national probability-based online panel agreed that a person with depression, described in a short case story, is unpredictable. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹²
• In Australia, 64.4% of adults in a national probability-based online panel were unwilling for a person with long-term schizophrenia to marry into their family. (survey, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹²

National and regional figures side by side

These surveys asked different questions of different groups, in different years. Some asked the public and some asked people with a condition or their families. Read each row with its label, and do not rank the countries.

How to read these figures

Attitude surveys measure what the public says it believes. Experience surveys measure what people with a condition report. A figure from one kind of survey does not tell you the figure from the other. Beliefs about dangerousness or unpredictability show what respondents think, not what people with a mental illness are like.

Answers depend on the condition in the case story. In the Australian survey, stigmatising attitudes were generally lowest for depression and highest for long-term schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder.

Some figures show a change over time, in a share or in a scale score, rather than the share of people holding a view. Read the label on each.

Postal and online surveys reach only the people who take part in them. Studies of people linked to services or organisations may not describe people outside them.

Several studies here sampled one city, region or rural area. They describe those people, not the whole country.

Stigma can change. The Lancet Commission concludes that people with lived experience are the key agents of change in reducing stigma.

If worry about what others will think is keeping you from getting help, a psychologist or counsellor can help you work through it. Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for. If you are in distress right now, see our helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Mental health stigma statistics. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/breaking-down-stigma-around-mental-illness-2025-statistics-by-therapyroute. Last updated 28 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional survey. The Lancet (Thornicroft et al.), 2009 europepmc.org.
2. [2] Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination reported by people with major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional survey. The Lancet (Lasalvia et al.), 18 October 2012 europepmc.org.
3. [3] Self-stigma, empowerment and perceived discrimination among people with schizophrenia in 14 European countries: the GAMIAN-Europe study. Schizophrenia Research (Brohan et al.), 2010 europepmc.org.
4. [4] Perceived Stigma among Recipients of Mental Health Care in the General Canadian Population. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (Patten et al.), 2016 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
5. [5] Barriers to mental health treatment: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Psychological Medicine (Andrade et al.), 2014 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. [6] Public stigma and schizophrenia in São Paulo city. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (Peluso and Blay), 23 April 2010 europepmc.org.
7. [7] Investigating changes in mental illness stigma and discrimination after the Time to Change programme in England. BJPsych Open (Ronaldson et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
8. [8] Community study of knowledge of and attitude to mental illness in Nigeria. British Journal of Psychiatry (Gureje et al.), 2005 europepmc.org.
9. [9] Perception of stigma among family members of individuals with schizophrenia and major affective disorders in rural Ethiopia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (Shibre et al.), 2001 europepmc.org.
10. [10] Mental illness stigma and treatment-seeking willingness in Japan: a national survey study. International Journal for Equity in Health (Subica and Nagata), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] Barriers to Mental Health Treatment in the Saudi National Mental Health Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Alangari et al.), 2020 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] Stigmatising Attitudes Towards People With Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality, ADHD and Early and Long-Term/Untreated Schizophrenia. Medical Journal of Australia (Morgan et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.