People use a range of techniques to avoid the stigma associated with receiving treatment for mental health problems. Brian Keogh describes some common reactions and the strategies that nurses can use to help them work through these issues

Using qualitative data collected from 31 participants, this article describes mental health service users’ disclosure practices following their discharge from hospital. Perceived and actual experiences of stigma were key to users’ decisions about what and how, and to whom, to disclose information about their time in hospital. The article goes on to present some strategies to assist mental health service users’ desire in managing information about their mental distress and their hospitalisation experiences.