Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The aim is to analyze the stigma associated with severe and persistent mental illness in the general population of the community of Madrid, Spain, as a first step to promote strategies to fight against it. Participants (n = 439) showed adequate general knowledge about mental illness, but a high degree of confusion with mental retardation. Stigmatizing attitudes focusing mainly on the disposition to help and on pity. Moreover, there were some perception of contamination and pity toward other family members. Psychosis seems to shows more stigma attitudes than cancer and depression, but less than cocaine addiction and AIDS.
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PMID:Descriptive study of stigma associated with severe and persistent mental illness among the general population of Madrid (Spain). 1843 69

The provision of genetic counseling to women with mild mental retardation poses many challenges, some directly related to their developmental and cognitive disabilities. Traditional genetic counseling models, in which decision-making is largely based on the understanding of factual information, are particularly affected by the intellectual limitations which characterize this population. Equally important, however, are these women's attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to their involuntary inclusion into a highly stigmatized social group. Common themes among these women which surface in the genetic counseling setting include the denial of mental retardation, a hierarchical perception of their own and others' disabilities, and a strong motivation to conceive and parent a child. Such attitudes and behaviors may be symptomatic of acculturation, as these women struggle to take on accepted social roles while rejecting the stigma of intellectual disability. In contrast to factual information, the counselee's ability to discuss emotions and perceptions is not necessarily hampered by her intellectual limitations. A focus on the recognition and discussion of psychosocial issues provides a more meaningful approach than traditional genetic counseling models for facilitating informed reproductive decisions among women with mental retardation.
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PMID:Acculturation in Women with Mental Retardation and Its Impact on Genetic Counseling. 2614 Oct 95


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