Investigation of the effect of criminal involvement history on self-stigma of seeking psychological help and psychological well-being in patients with bipolar disorder

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between self-stigma of seeking psychological help and psychological well-being and criminal involvement history in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD). This cross-sectional study was conducted at Elazığ Fethi Sekin City Hospital with patients diagnosed with BD type 1 (BD-I) who agreed to participate in the study. Group 1 includes patients with and group 2 includes patients without a history of involvement in crime. Along with sociodemographic and clinical data, Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale (SSPHS), Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered to all patients. While PWBS (p=0.021) score was lower in group 1 than in group 2, SSPHS (p=0.005) and BDI (p=0.015) scores were higher. There were 41 crimes belonging to 37 patients. Of these crimes (n=41), 12 were wounding, 8 were intentional killing, 7 were threatening, 5 were damaging public property, 3 were theft, 3 were insulting, 2 were sexual harassment, and 1 was intentional killing of a child. In total (n=71), a significant correlation was found between the total number of psychiatric hospitalizations and SSPHS (r=0.503; p<0.001) and PWBS (r=-0.520; p<0.001) scores; also a significant correlation between SSPHS and PWBS (r=-0.443; p<0.001). This study reveals that a history of criminal involvement is associated with increased self-stigma in seeking psychological help and decreased psychological well-being in BD-I. The low rate of medication use by patients during criminal behavior may emphasize the importance of compliance with medical treatment.