Public knowledge, stigma, and social acceptance toward mental illness in the Gulf region: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Mental illness stigma undermines help-seeking, treatment engagement, and social inclusion globally. Although the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region has undergone rapid social and health-system modernization, few studies have simultaneously assessed public knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviour toward people with mental illness using validated instruments. Objective: To examine mental-health knowledge, public stigma, and social acceptance among adults in GCC countries using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS), and the 40-item Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale. Methods: An Arabic-language online survey was completed by 1, 557 adults (84.1% female; mean age = 26.2 years, Results: Participants reported moderate mental-health knowledge (MAKS Conclusion: These findings, drawn from a predominantly Kuwaiti, female, and university-educated convenience sample, indicate that respondents endorsed sympathetic and recovery-oriented principles yet showed substantial hesitation regarding close social contact. The disconnect between attitudes and behavioural willingness highlights the need for culturally grounded, contact-based anti-stigma interventions that target social distance specifically, while requiring replication in more representative GCC populations.