Editor word: Issue 1 2026

Theme: Editorials

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Ahead of each new issue of this journal, we select a theme that we believe will be of interest to colleagues in the Nordic and Baltic countries, and where similarities and differences can be highlighted. This time, we chose to focus on stigma—that is, negative attitudes toward people with psychiatric conditions. The concept is broad and encompasses prejudice and discrimination.

Hans-Peter Mofors

Chief Medical Officer of Psychiatry, Nyköping.

Editor of The Nordic Psychiatrist. Former chairman of The Swedish Psychiatric Association.

The concept of stigmatisation has its roots in Latin, meaning “mark” or “brand,” and ultimately comes from the Greek stizein, meaning “to tattoo.” Later, the concept became more closely associated with the body developing bleeding wounds resembling those Jesus received during his crucifixion. From the 1960s onward, sociology expanded the meaning to include the “labeling” that may affect people with deviant characteristics or appearances.

Views on what we today commonly refer to as “mental health issues,” i.e., psychiatric conditions, appear to vary both regionally and over time. From an earlier historical elevation, often linked to magical powers, people with psychiatric conditions later came to be marginalized into the darker corners of society.

Cover image of The Nordic Psychiatrist Issue 1 2026.

However, something changed a couple of decades ago, perhaps related to the Prozac generation. Suddenly, mental suffering became fully acceptable—possibly because it could be understood or explained within a biological and therefore treatable framework. The pace of this development has been rapid, and in recent years some diagnoses have even become desirable. Today, we see long waiting lists for ADHD assessments, and diagnostic psychiatry has become a lucrative industry. A few years ago, there was a particular fascination with bipolar disorder. Conditions such as burnout, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders are now met with a very different level of understanding compared to just a few years ago.

Yet far from all diagnoses receive the same degree of understanding, such as psychotic disorders and personality disorders—not to mention paraphilias. There is, so to speak, a hierarchy in which certain conditions still carry a heavy stigma.

The concept of stigma is vague and open to interpretation. Some argue that it is better to speak of discrimination, which is a more measurable outcome of stigmatization. Even today, within healthcare, we see patients with psychiatric conditions being met with prejudice and receiving poorer care and treatment—sometimes with catastrophic outcomes.

Each and every one of us has a responsibility to reflect on our values and judgments when encountering people whose behavior may be perceived as deviant, and at times provocative or difficult to understand. Thoughtful reflections on this can be found in this very interesting issue of The Nordic Psychiatrist. I wish you an engaging and thought-provoking read. □