Analysing attitudes towards the mentally ill, it would seem that as a result of the favourable changes that have been made, the expanded and more accessible knowledge in the humanities and medical sciences, there is a tendency to treat mental illness like any other. Although the assumption itself is correct and fully justified, a certain absurd phenomenon can be observed in people's behaviour; that the expansion of knowledge is not at all accompanied by an increase in understanding of the patient. The issue is much more complex and is linked to both the person of the sick person and his environment. This is because social opinion reflects a long-established image of the mentally ill. He or she is still often treated as a person with whom it is difficult to make contact, who is difficult to understand, as different from those, strange, who should be feared. A person who has undergone an episode of mental illness (even if it has left no visible traces in his behaviour) is inclined to identify with the psychiatrist's definition of himself. Likewise, those in his or her immediate environment, as well as those informed about it, are inclined to look for any behaviour that confirms his or her pathology rather than a sense of ever-improving health. Positive attitudes are often observed, although there is no shortage of apparently positive ones, in which the formalities of treatment are completed, but at the same time the problem is removed by isolating the patient.

In conclusion, overtly hostile attitudes that express themselves in depriving mentally ill people of at least the help they deserve are rare in the community. Assessment of the mentally ill is characterised by a high degree of ambivalence - from negative - based on inner anger, fear to overly positive. It seems, therefore, that there are still more strongly negative evaluations, but positive attitudes in which acceptance and kindness predominate are also clearly more frequent. In between the above-mentioned behaviours, there are those that can most generally be called apparently positive. There is no overt discrimination, but there is an aversion to contact with the sick person. These include indifferent, outwardly benevolent or even overly caring attitudes. Although there is no overt hostility towards the sick person in any of them, there is an emphasis on their disability, a lack of confidence in their strength.