Abstract
BackgroundFailure to seek treatment for mental health disorders is a serious public health concern. Unfortunately, there is little insight into help-seeking and its associated factors in China which has undergone rapid economic development in the past 30 years and has an increasing prevalence of mental disorder. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) investigate help-seeking rates in healthcare and non-healthcare settings and (2) investigate the correlates of help-seeking behavior in a large Chinese survey.MethodsData came from the Tianjin Mental Health Survey (TJMHS), a representative sample of adult community residents in the Chinese municipality of Tianjin (n = 11,748). Of these, 1759 individuals had ≥1 axis-I diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical manual– fourth edition (DSM-IV) and were administered a Help-Seeking Questionnaire.Results15.7% of patients reported that they had ever sought help during their entire lifetime before the interview, with 4.5% seeking help in mental healthcare, 3.2% in other healthcare and 8.1% in non-healthcare settings (e.g., family, friends, and spiritual advisor). Among help-seekers, the first help was mostly sought in non-healthcare settings (58.4%), followed by healthcare (27.5%) and mental healthcare settings (24.5%). Female gender, younger age, having 7–9 years vs 0–6 years of education, a low income, a psychotic disorder and having ≥2 disorders were associated with increased help-seeking. Older age, being married and having a psychotic or organic disorder were associated with increased help-seeking in healthcare vs. non-healthcare settings.ConclusionA small percentage of persons with mental disorders in the Tianjin region seek help and among those who do, variations in the types of help-seeking may be partially explained by demographic and clinical characteristics.
Highlights
Failure to seek treatment for mental health disorders is a serious public health concern
Previous surveys in China have shown that the treatment-seeking rates of individuals with a mental disorder are low (12-month rate: 3.4%) [3] and lower than rates observed in other low and
The relationships between mental illness stigma and mental health knowledge (MHK), on the one hand, and help-seeking behavior, on the other hand, have so far received little attention in China, whereas the former are both considered barriers to help seeking for individuals with mental problems [5, 8, 10]
Summary
Failure to seek treatment for mental health disorders is a serious public health concern. This study aimed to (1) investigate help-seeking rates in healthcare and non-healthcare settings and (2) investigate the correlates of help-seeking behavior in a large Chinese survey. Several studies have investigated correlates of help-seeking and have shown that the experience of high psychiatric stigma, low mental health knowledge, mild severity of mental disorders, being separated, divorced or widowed, having a low-income status, and living in a rural area are associated with a lower probability of seeking and receiving any help for mental disorders in China [3, 8, 9]. The roles of lay workers or non-formal care providers have been ignored in previous Chinese studies, it is known that these play an important role in helping people with mental health problems [5, 10, 11]. The relationships between mental illness stigma and mental health knowledge (MHK), on the one hand, and help-seeking behavior, on the other hand, have so far received little attention in China, whereas the former are both considered barriers to help seeking for individuals with mental problems [5, 8, 10]
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