Public attitudes towards people with depression in times of uncertainty: results from three population surveys in Germany

The recent increase of so-called precarious work conditions plus the current financial crisis have led to a growing sense of uncertainty among the public. This may have repercussions on attitudes towards people with mental illness. Particularly, the public may have become more reluctant to support access to work for these people. In 1990, 2001 and 2011, population surveys were conducted in the old states of Germany, using the same sampling procedure, interview mode and measures. Within the context of a fully structured interview respondents were presented a case-vignette depicting a person with symptoms of depression. They were then asked how willing they would be to accept the person in the vignette in various social relationships. While the German public's unwillingness to recommend an individual with depression for a job remained unchanged during the 1990s, it increased significantly during the subsequent decade. By contrast, in all other social relationships studied, no increase of the desire for social distance could be observed during this time period. The trend towards withholding access to jobs was most pronounced among employed respondents. The results of our study underline the importance of macro-social factors for the discrimination of people with mental illness.