The stigma attached to mental illness is the main obstacle to better mental health care and the better quality of life of people who have the illness, of their families, of their communities and of health service staff that deal with psychiatric disorders. Stigma is pernicious and there are indications that despite advances of psychiatry and medicine it continues to grow and has more and often terrible consequences for patients and families. In 1996, the WPA began an international programme to fight the stigma and discrimination because of schizophrenia. The 'Open the Doors' programme has since been implemented in more than 20 countries and involved roughly 200 different anti-stigma interventions. This book details the results of these efforts internationally and provides recommendations and guidance for those seeking to join this international effort or start similar efforts to dispel stigma and discrimination.

'The authors accomplished their goal of presenting their efforts and planting the seeds of further programs to be developed. If this information is received in the appropriate hands, perhaps there is hope for further gains of the movement.'

Source: Doody's

'This is an accessible book, chock-full of guidance on implementing local anti-stigma interventions, aimed at schizophrenia but applicable more broadly. … one of the main lessons from this book is that contact with those who have mental health problems is perhaps the most powerful tool in lessening prejudice.'

Source: Journal of Mental Health