The Stigma of Disease and Disability

The lives of people with disease and disability are harmed not only by their conditions but by public response to these conditions in the form of stigma and discrimination. Making sense of this injustice is the focus of this book.

The two main sections of the book comprise chapters on 10 specific illnesses and conditions (mental illness, substance abuse, intellectual disability, physical and sensory disabilities, HIV-AIDS, infectious disease, cancer, obesity, childhood disorders, and Alzheimer's disease) and chapters relating to broader issues (stigma and family, overcoming stigma, stigma across cultures, and future directions).

The book concludes with observations on what has not worked in overcoming stigma as well as possible future directions.

Patrick W. Corrigan, PsyD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology, USA. Prior to that, Dr. Corrigan was the executive director of the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at the University of Chicago, USA, where he was also a professor of psychiatry. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Corrigan has been setting up and providing services for people with serious mental illnesses and their families for more than 30 years. He has been the principal investigator of federally funded studies on rehabilitation and consumer operated services. In 2001, he became principal investigator of the Chicago Consortium for Stigma Research, the only National Institute of Mental Health funded research centre examining the stigma of mental illness. (The consortium evolved into the National Consortium on Stigma and Empowerment, also supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.) In 2013, Dr. Corrigan took the helm of a grant funded by the National Institutes of Health on peer navigators meant to enhance the integrated care needs of homeless African Americans with mental illness. A prolific researcher who authored or edited 12 books and more than 300 articles, Dr. Corrigan is the editor of the American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation.