NCT03218748

Honest, Open, Proud for Soldiers with Mental Illness

Adaptation and Evaluation of the Honest, Open, Proud Program for Soldiers with Mental Illness

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 99 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Ulm · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the group-based intervention "Honest, Open, Proud" among soldiers with mental illness.

Detailed description

Soldiers with mental illness typically face a two-fold problem. On the one hand, they have to cope with the symptoms of their mental illness; on the other hand, they often have to deal with stigma and discrimination. Both due to fear of public stigma and due to self-stigma or shame, soldiers with mental illness may decide to keep their condition a secret or even to withdraw from other people altogether in order to minimize the risk of being labeled. Secrecy can help on the short term to protect individuals from public stigma, but usually it has negative long-term consequences such as social isolation, distress and avoidance of help-seeking. Disclosure, on the other hand, carries the risk to be discriminated by others, but can reduce the burden of secrecy, lead to support by others and reduce public stigma. In this study investigators aim to test the efficacy (see our outcomes above) of Honest, Open, Proud run by soldiers with lived experience of mental illness.

Conditions

• Mental Illness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Honest, Open, Proud (HOP)	Three lessons, one for each two-hour session plus one booster session 1. Considering the pros and cons of disclosure: Discussion of one's idea of identity and mental illness, weighing the costs and benefits of (non-) disclosure 2. Different ways to disclose: Discussion of different levels of (non-) disclosure, considering costs and benefits of each level, selecting persons to disclose to and how to test them out, anticipating responses of others to one's disclosure 3. Telling one's story: Practice how to tell one's story, identifying peers who might be helpful with the coming out process 4. Booster session Reviewing previous intentions to disclose one's mental illness, discussion whether one disclosed and evaluating this experience

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-11-15
• Primary completion: 2024-10-01
• Completion: 2024-10-01
• First posted: 2017-07-17
• Last updated: 2024-12-11

Locations

3 sites across 2 countries: United States, Germany