Dealing with Stigma: Experiences of Persons Affected by Disabilities and Leprosy

Table 3

Elements of impact by stigma divided by emotions, thoughts, behaviour, and relationships.

Emotions	Thoughts	Behaviour	Relationships
Afraid	Death	Moving away	Rejection
Worry	No hope	Passive	Separation
Mourning	No future	Self-isolation	Restriction in social participation
Shy	Isolated	Keep silent	Discrimination
Guilt	Feeling sick	Do not want to look for help	Stop relationships
Anxious	Not being accepted	Protected by family	Withdraw
Inferiority	Contagious	Stay at home	Reject invitation
Doubt	Avoided	Do not want to meet people	No contact
Angry	Burden	Hiding	No social role and responsibility
Sad	Limitation	Instability	No friends
Annoying	Belief in having been cured	Lying down	Difficult to get job
Confusion	Hope for change in the future	Be opened to listen to	Stand on their own
Hate	Get knowledge about the disease	Discipline	Keep trying
Patience		Accept people’s help	Provoke encounters
Cheerful		Accept their condition and situation	Courage to meet doctors and leprosy officers