Self-stigma is a maladaptive psychosocial phenomenon that can disturb self-image and quality of life in psychiatric outpatients and may lead to dysphoria, social isolation and reduced adherence to treatment.

Self-stigma and QoL could be reflected as important factors for patients, who suffer from schizophrenia spectrum disorders, their caregivers and mental health specialists. Focus on reducing the self-stigma in supportive and educational therapy could be an important factor in promoting a higher QoL.

Current research moved attention to the relationship between demographic data, the severity of symptoms, self-stigma and quality of life in schizophrenic outpatients compared to the QoL in healthy controls.

Patients who met ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia spectrum disorder were recruited in the study. The Quality of Life Satisfaction and Enjoyment questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) and severity of the disorder measured by objective and subjective Clinical Global Impression severity scales (CGI) were assessed.

One hundred and nine psychotic patients and 91 healthy controls participated in the study. Compared to the control group, there was a lower QoL and a higher score of self-stigma in psychotic patients. We found the correlation between the self-stigma, duration of disorder and QoL. The level of self-stigma correlated positively with total symptom severity score and negatively with the QoL. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the objective severity and self-stigma score were significantly associated with the quality of life (Table 1, Table 2, Fig. 1).

Our study suggests a negative impact of self-stigma level on the quality of life in patients suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders.