Antidepressant awareness and stigmatizing attitudes toward depression and antidepressants, a comparison between first and sixth-year medical students.

Sixth-year participants had higher rates of diagnosed psychiatric illness and psychiatric drug usage. Interestingly, the score was not a predictor of the overall stigma score. However, in the responses to individual statements, we observed an overall increase in knowledge and decreased stigma among the sixth-year participants compared to first-year participants. The effects of medical education on knowledge are significant overall. On the other hand, the level of knowledge and beliefs of our first-year participants, which are similar to the public, show a worrisome situation indicating that broader public education efforts are needed. Our study shows an encouraging perspective, indicating that public awareness campaigns can be very effective in increasing knowledge and decreasing misconceptions.