Mental illness or mental health disorders can affect mood, emotions, thinking and behavior. The study aims to assess the perceptions and explore the attitudes of the Saudi population toward psychiatric patients and mental illness and to determine the socio-demographic correlation with public attitudes towards mental illness among this population in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The study design is a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative). The study was conducted in Al Ahasa, Saudi Arabia. The present study used convenience-sampling method. Data collection method was through an online survey using a questionnaire with closed ended questions for the quantitative part and open-ended questions for the qualitative part. Ethical approval was obtained from IRB in King Fahd Hospital. The survey form was distributed then there were 482 participants respond to the survey. Near to half of the participants in the study belongs to the age group of 21-30 years and were found to be females. Half of the participants married and majority of them did not have family history of mental illness. The results showed that many participants had an optimistic and accepting attitude, but majority had neutral or negative attitude. The study results revealed that the score for mental illness perceptions was significantly associated with age and marital status and highly significantly associated with gender and family history of mentally ill person between the family members. The results show that there were varied perceptions and attitudes among the Saudi population pertaining to psychiatric patient. Some participants have an optimistic and accepting attitude but also the majority have a neutral or negative attitude. So, it is important to raise awareness and correct misconceptions of the Saudi community about mental illness.
 

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