The term "mentally ill" is associated with various stereotypes. Studies show, that a large part of the population estimates mentally ill people as violent, dangerous, irrational and less intelligent. Many people equate mental illness with schizophrenia while they assess, for example mood disorders such as depression less severe.

At an international congress for psychiatric epidemiology in Leipzig in 2013, three researchers presented the results of their research. They interviewed 3000 people in 1990 and 2011 in order to assess the development of attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. It was found that the attitudes of respondents have actually worsened in the past 20 years. In 2011 30% of the respondents refused to have a schizophrenic man as a neighbor or colleague: in 1990 it was only 20% of the respondents.