Pros and cons of mental health treatment: reports from depressed clients with suicidal ideation

Abstract

Background Suicide is a major public health problem; rates in the US have risen significantly across all age groups over the past decade. Outpatient mental health services can help to mitigate the risk of suicide. Despite highly positive effects, fewer than half of those individuals diagnosed with a mental illness receive needed mental health treatment. Aims This study aims to examine the pros and cons of mental health treatment utilization and non-utilization from the perspective of depressed individual with suicidal ideation via a decisional balance worksheet. Methods Depressed adults with suicidal ideation presenting to an emergency room for treatment recorded the pros and cons they associate with mental health treatment utilization and non-utilization. Results Participants generated pros of non-utilization the least frequently (11.6%), and the pros of treatment utilization most frequently (39.6%). The most frequently cited pro of treatment utilization was “Learning New Skills”, representing 40% of identified pros of utilizing treatment. Conclusion Findings suggest that reinforcing the new skills treatment can provide and ensuring every client understands treatment strategies and the reasons that treatment can be effective for their individual case may be an effective means of increasing the treatment engagement of at-risk individuals.