Although stigma of mental illness has been evaluated since the 1960s, it is only recently that the patient's perception and coping with stigma became a subject of the systematic psychological investigation. Perceiving stigmatizing social attitudes and behaviors may influence the depressive patient's recovery process by his resigning from seeking medical or psychological help [5], drug adherence, or by treatment discontinuation [6,7]. Yet, not all patients report perceiving stigma and not all of them perceive it in the same way and with the same power. Also, they may choose different ways of coping [8]. An explanation of this may be that awareness of stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination are stressors to which one should respond using his individual stress coping resources [9].
