Dear colleagues,

The modern world has made health technologies and medications available that lead to cures for diseases and health enhancement. The life expectancy among populations in different locations of the world has significantly increased; however, psychosocial health remains an important problem in our communities.

One of the important issues in psychosocial health is stigma, which can be conceptualized as the co-occurrence of the following: (i) distinguishing differences and labeling; (ii) negatively stereotyping those who are labeled as different; (iii) separating labeled people from unlabeled people (e.g., using “us” vs. “them”); (iv) emotional reactions, such as anger and hatred, among both those who do the labelling and those who are labeled; (v) the labeled group experiencing status loss and discrimination, and; (vi) economic, social, political, and power that enables these processes to unfold. Stigma may manifest itself in various forms: public stigma, experienced stigma, perceived stigma, and self-stigma. As long as any type of stigma exists, it poses a great threat to the health and well-being of those who are stigmatized. The results will include loss of opportunities in various aspects of life such as the availability of treatment, employment, housing, education. All of these aspects are important components of quality of life. Unfortunately, the link between stigma and health is still not fully understood. Therefore, we need more evidence to help healthcare providers to better understand the issue among populations in different parts of the world.

In this Special Issue, we intend to address this knowledge gap and invite the submission of papers that explore and shed light on the relationship between stigma and any aspect of health. Reviews, observational studies, case vignettes, and randomized experimental trials are welcome. If you have an idea and do not know whether this falls into the scope of this Special Issue, you may contact either one of the Guest Editors: Dr. Chung-Ying Lin, or Prof. Hector Tsang.

Dr. Chung-Ying Lin
Prof. Dr. Hector Tsang
Guest Editors