**3.2. Reasons for stigmatization for mental illness**

The causes of stigmatization for mental illness can be individual, social, and political. Especially, it is stated that the fear factor against the individual with mental illness is the biggest factor causing the stigmatization. These individuals with mental disease are considered dangerous by society; their balance completely corrupted, when they do not know what they are going to do; they damage their environment; and they have communication problems. Another cause and one of the most important reasons is that the mental illness is not perceived as a disease. Consequently, age, gender, education, occupation, marital status, social class, culture, religious beliefs, knowledge of disease, contact with mental illness, mental illness label, type of psychopathology, characteristics of individual with mental disease, and mass media are factors affecting mental illness stigmatization [32] (**Figure 3**).
