Attitudes towards help seeking behaviour and professional psychiatric help in Slovenia

Abstract

IntroductionKnowledge about signs and treatment of mental illnesses is often not enough to seek professional help. Hence, it is important to gain understanding of other determinants, i.e. attitudes, stigma, which influence help-seeking behaviour.ObjectivesBased on Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour, we aimed at collecting data of determinants known to be related to behavioural action, in our case help seeking.AimsTo examine how attitudes, stigma and normative believes influence help seeking behaviour and whether these determinants differ in relation to demographic data and mental health indicators of the respondents’ region.MethodsA representative sample of adult Slovene population (n = 594) was recruited via an on-line invitation. They were asked to (i) provide basic demographic data (region, age, gender, mental health history…) and (ii) to complete the inventory of attitudes toward seeking mental health services. The inventory variables (attitudes, knowledge and stigma) were linked to demographic data and mental health indicators in Slovenia.ResultsThe respondents dispose of good knowledge of where and when to seek help either for themselves or others. However, the readiness to seek help was significantly lower, in particular so in men, younger, single persons and respondents from regions with lower mental health indicators. Accordingly, stigma was significantly higher pronounced in the same groups. More than 50% of respondents have already experienced mental distress, however only 25% have sought help.ConclusionsReasons for this “help seeking gap” should be further scrutinized. Future interventions shall be focused on changing attitudes and destigmatization mental health issues.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.