Mental illness brings social stereotypes, prejudices, discrimination, rejection, and loss of the social status. Stereotypes related to particular mental illnesses differ slightly in content, but are all based on the same false assumptions that people with psychiatric disorders are, in general, dangerous, incompetent, careless, unpredictable, aggressive, hostile, etc [1]. Additionally, in case of depression, personal responsibility for the disease, lack of will to recover and of the individual's control of a depressive condition all are attributed to the patient. Due to insufficient mental health literacy, resulting in stereotypes and feelings of fear and anger, people with psychiatric disorders become victims of prejudices held by almost every social group [2]. Those prejudiced beliefs are of main significance in the most easily observed dimension of mental illness, stigma - discrimination, which is defined in this article as a hostile behavioral expression of one's prejudice [3]; the expression varying in its form from offensive language, backbiting, or social exclusion to job and accommodation refusal, or court injustice [4].
