Mental Illness Stigma and Burnout among Mental Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Mental illness stigma has been identified as a global problem. It occurs in the community and even among healthcare professionals who possess the education to know differently. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study explored the relationship between burnout and mental illness stigma among mental healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia. The study utilized the Attributional Questionnaire (AQ-9) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) to assess whether burnout was related to mental illness stigma. A total of 101 subjects included nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers participated in the study. Data analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between the predictor variable depersonalization (DP) and mental illness stigma for nurses and non-nursing healthcare professionals. In addition, emotional exhaustion (EE) was a statistically significant predictor of mental illness stigma for non-nursing healthcare professionals. A statistically significant difference in personal accomplishment (PA) levels between nurses and non-nursing healthcare professionals was found, where nurses experienced a low sense of PA. Also, the findings showed that nurses experienced high EE, DP, and mental illness stigma compared to non-nursing healthcare professionals. The information gathered during the interview with four nurses provided an explanation of factors that contributed to high burnout and mental illness stigma among nurses. Factors that contributed to burnout were the COVID-19 pandemic, long shift hours and workload intensity, staff shortage and nurse-to-patient ratio, time management skills, nature of psychiatric illness, and education. Moreover, factors that contributed to mental illness stigma were education, community, and the media. The result of this study could help to design programs that decrease stress and mental illness stigma in the workplace in Saudi Arabia.