Use of Mental Health Service Among Young Adults on Unemployment Benefit Before and after Receiving Counseling at a Psychiatric Liaison Department

Abstract

To determine mental health service utilization before and after consultation of a psychiatric liaison service ("Support 25") among youths aged 16-24 years suffering from mental disorders and receiving unemployment benefits. Longitudinal registration of mental health service use over a 9-month period (N=148); measurement of possible moderators with questionnaires and rating scales. Mental health service utilization increased from initially 22% to 40% and 47.5% 3 and 6 months after receiving individual treatment recommendation. Low-threshold psychosocial counseling was frequented more often than specific psychiatric or psychotherapeutic treatment. Subjects who contacted mental health services showed a trend towards a lower level of psychosocial functioning than subjects who did not seek treatment. Stigma-related factors did not hinder mental health service use. Despite a high degree of psychiatric morbidity, the surveyed sample of unemployed youths had problems to successfully enter mental health services. Although a substantial increase in service use was observed after receiving psychoeducational information at a psychiatric liaison service, the use of low-threshold counseling predominated. This finding suggests that the mental health system should adapt better to the specific needs of young unemployed, for example, by expanding low-threshold psychiatric pre-treatment offers at vocational centers.