An information-processing model of the decision to seek professional help.

Abstract

Despite the presence of quality mental health care in many communities, people tend to avoid seeking help and wind up languishing in their problems unnecessarily. For the professional to better understand how to reach these individuals, an information-processing model is presented that examines the effects of people's interpretation of their environment and their symptoms on their decision to seek mental health services. Using the model as a guide, suggestions are presented for practitioners who wish to provide services to those who are in need of professional help, yet are hesitant to obtain it. One of the common frustrations of many mental health practitio- ners is the knowledge that many people are reluctant to seek profes- sional help, even when they desperately need it. The extant literature on professional help seeking has made some progress in understand- ing the role of specific factors (e.g., public stigma, fears about emo- tional disclosure) that affect people's professional help-seeking atti- tudes and intentions. However, surprisingly few models have been developed that focus on the active decision-making processes that might encourage greater use of the available services. Relevant information-processing (Anderson, 1982) and social-cognitive (Ban- dura, 1997) theories have been available for some time, yet we are unaware of any research linking these concepts to the process of seeking professional help. Such a link would have the advantage of providing mental health professionals with a clearer understanding of the help-seeking process. This would allow them to both improve their ability to reach and serve diverse groups of clients and to provide needed information to the public. Therefore, the goal of this article is to present an information- processing model of help-seeking decisions to provide a clearer