One group of people who have a higher risk of depression and anxiety is people with stigmatized identities (Ikizier, Ramírez-Esparza, & Quinn, 2017). Those who have stigmatized identities fear that they will be mistreated if others are aware of these identities. The greater the fear of these identities being discovered and the greater the mistreatment that these individuals will face as a result of these identities, the greater the level of psychological distress.
Because identities that are stigmatized vary between cultures, the level of psychological distress associated with different identities also varies between cultures. Additionally, because Turkey is a collectivistic culture, people’s perceptions of themselves are heavily influenced by what others think of them. Turkey is also what is called a “tight” culture, meaning that the norms of the culture are tightly enforced and any variation from these norms is more highly punished (Ikizier et al., 2017).
Some visible, stigmatized identities can include gender identity, physical and mental disabilities, race, and body weight. Some concealable stigmatized identities include mental illness, chronic illness, sexuality, history of abuse, criminal history, and history of drug addiction (Ikizier et al., 2017).
Commonly stigmatized concealable identities in Turkey include (in order of most common to least common):
- Negative past experiences
- Negative personality traits (like being shy)
- Non-heterosexual sexual orientation
- Minority worldview or lifestyle choices (such as low levels of religiosity or minority political stance)
- Minority ethnic or religious identity
- Drug or alcohol use
- Mental illness
- History of sexual abuse
- Family member with an addiction or medical/psychological issue
- Medical conditions
Individuals with these identities experience higher levels of anxiety and depression out of fear of the anticipated stigma (Ikizier et al., 2017).
Stigmatized identities that both have a positive correlation with depression and suicide and have been studied in-depth in the Turkish culture include being a woman, being autistic, and being depressed.