Causing trouble and being transmissible: COVID-19 survivors’ experiences of stigma and discrimination in South Korea

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Jiyeon Kang¹  Yesung Lee¹  Eun-Seung Yu²  Hyang Soo Kim³  Eun Joo Lee⁴  Jong-Woo Paik⁵  So Hee Lee⁶  Chi-Hyun Choi⁷  Hye Yeon Park⁸  Hyun Ji Yi⁹  Hye Yoon Park⁹  Hong Sang Oh^1,10  Doran Yoon^1,10  Kyoung-Ho Song^1,11  Pyoeng Gyun Choe^1,12  Minyoung Sim^1,13 

[1] Department of Anthropology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Counseling Psychology, The Cyber University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Nursing Science, Sungshin Women’s University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Pediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Psychiatry, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Psychiatry, National Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Psychiatry, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea;Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Republic of Korea;Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Republic of Korea;Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea;National Center for Disaster and Trauma, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul, Republic of Korea;

关键词: COVID-19;    stigma;    South Korea;    psychosocial distress;    emerging infectious disease;    pandemic;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1103572

 received in 2022-11-20, accepted in 2023-02-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe stigma associated with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is relatively neglected in policies for handling the disease. Stigmatization occurs only within specific social contexts in local societies.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine COVID-19 survivors’ experiences of social stigma and discrimination in South Korea in the first 2 years of the pandemic.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted.ResultsOf 52 participants, 45 reported that they had to cope with stigma and discrimination in their intimate social relationships, workplaces, and children’s schools, ranging from subtle actions to job loss. Sexual minorities who were involved in mass disease transmission in the early part of the pandemic experienced a higher level of stigmatization. The stigmatization dealt with in this study was related to two themes: survivors’ sense of causing trouble and possibility of transmission.ConclusionBy intertwining this stigma with the experiences of public health measures through the voices of survivors, this study reveals the local context of East Asia in terms of culture-specific aspects of COVID-19-related stigma.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Kang, Kim, Yi, Lee, Lee, Song, Park, Oh, Yoon, Choe, Lee, Choi, Sim, Yu, Paik and Park.