Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ASCO Annual Meeting 2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Keep up to date with all the top stories and latest evidence with our hub page, including official congress videos and expert takeaways.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2/2014

01-02-2014 | Original Paper

Attitudes and stigma in relation to help-seeking intentions for psychological problems in low and high suicide rate regions

Authors: A. Reynders, A. J. F. M. Kerkhof, G. Molenberghs, C. Van Audenhove

Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology | Issue 2/2014

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

Accessibility and availability of mental health care services are necessary but not sufficient for people to seek help for psychological problems. Attitudes and stigma related to help seeking also determine help seeking intentions. The aim of this study is to investigate how cross-national differences in attitudes and stigma within the general population are related to professional and informal help seeking intentions in low and high suicide rate regions.

Methods

By means of a postal structured questionnaire, data of 2999 Dutch and Flemish respondents between 18 and 65 years were gathered. Attitudes toward help seeking, perceived stigma, self-stigma, shame and intention to seek help were assessed.

Results

People in the Netherlands, where suicide rates are low, have more positive attitudes toward help seeking and experience less self stigma and shame compared to the people in Flanders, where suicide rates are relatively high. These attitudinal factors predicted professional as well as informal help seeking intentions. Perceived stigma was negatively associated with informal help seeking. Shame was positively associated with higher intention to use psychotropic drugs and perceived stigma was negatively associated with the intention to seek help from a psychotherapist in Flanders but not in the Netherlands.

Conclusion

Help seeking for psychological problems prevent these problems to aggravate and it is assumed to be a protective factor for suicide. Our results stress the importance of the promotion of positive attitudes and the reduction of stigma within the general population to facilitate help seeking from professional providers and informal networks. Focusing on these attitudinal factors is believed to be a key aspect of universal mental health and suicide prevention policies.
Literature
1.
Alonso J, Angermeyer MC, Bernert S, Bruffaerts R (2004) Use of mental health services in Europe: results from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD) project. Acta Psychiatr Scand 109(Supl 420):47–54
2.
Kessler RC, Demyttenaere K, Bruffaerts R, Posada-Villa J (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA 291:2581–2590PubMedCrossRef
3.
Deisenhammer EA, Huber M, Kemmler G, Weiss EM, Hinterhuber H (2007) Suicide victims’ contact with physicians during the year before death. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 257:480–485PubMedCrossRef
4.
Sareen J, Jagdeo A, Cox BJ, Clara I, ten Have M, Belik SL, de Graaf R (2007) Perceived barriers to mental health service utilization in the United States, Ontario, and the Netherlands. Psychatr Serv 58:357–364CrossRef
5.
Ajzen I, Fishbein M (2005) The influence of attitudes on behavior. In: Albarracin D, Johnson BT, Zanna MP (eds) The handbook of attitudes. Laurence Erlbaum, New Jersey, pp 173–221
6.
Bathje GJ, Pryor JB (2011) The relationship of public and self-stigma to seeking mental health services. J Mental Health Couns 33:161–176
7.
Komiti A, Judd F, Jackson H (2006) The influence of stigma and attitudes on seeking help from a GP for mental health problems. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 41:738–745PubMedCrossRef
8.
Vogel DL, Wade NG, Hackler AH (2007) Perceived public stigma and the willingness to seek counseling: the mediating roles of self-stigma and attitudes toward counseling. J Couns Psychol 54:40–50CrossRef
9.
ten Have M, de Graaf R, Ormel J, Vilagut G (2012) Are attitudes towards mental health help-seeking associated with service use? Results from the European Study of Epidemiology of Mental Disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 45:153–163CrossRef
10.
Rüsch N, Angermeyer MC, Corrigan P (2005) Mental illness stigma: concepts, consequences, and initiatives to reduce stigma. Eur Psychiatry 20:523–539CrossRef
11.
Ben-Portath DD (2002) Stigmatization of individuals who receive psychotherapy: an interaction between help-seeking behaviour and the presence of depression. J Soc Clin Psychol 21:400–413CrossRef
12.
Link BG, Cullen FT, Struening E, Shrout PE, Dohrenwend BP (1989) A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders: an empirical assessment. Am Sociol Rev 54:400–423CrossRef
13.
Gulliver A, Griffiths KM, Christensen H (2010) Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 10:113PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
14.
Golberstein E, Eisenberg D, Gollust SE (2009) Perceived stigma and help-seeking behavior: longitudinal evidence from the Healthy Minds Study. Psychiatr Serv 60:1254–1256PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
15.
Schomerus G, Matschinger H, Angermeyer MC (2009) The stigma of psychiatric treatment and help-seeking intentions for depression. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 259:298–306PubMedCrossRef
16.
Griffiths KM, Crisp AH, Barney LJ, Reid R (2011) Seeking help for depression from family and friends: a qualitative analysis of perceived advantages and disadvantages. BMC Psychiatry 11:196PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
17.
Holmes EP, River LP (1998) Individual strategies for coping with stigma of severe mental illness. Cogn Behav Pract 5:231–239CrossRef
18.
Barney LJ, Griffiths KM, Jorm AF, Christensen H (2006) Stigma about depression and its impact on help-seeking intentions. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 40:51–54PubMedCrossRef
19.
Pompili M, Mancinelli I, Tatarelli R (2003) Stigma as a cause of suicide. Br J Psychiatry 183:173–174PubMedCrossRef
20.
Kageyama T (2012) Views on suicide among middle-aged and elderly populations in Japan: their associations with demographic variables and feeling shame in seeking help. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 66:105–112PubMedCrossRef
21.
Mojtabai R (2010) Mental illness stigma and willingness to seek mental health care in the European Union. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 45:705–712PubMedCrossRef
22.
Evans-Lacko, S., Brohan, E, Mojtabai, R, Thornicroft, G. (2012) Association between public views of mental illness and self-stigma among individuals with mental illness in 14 European countries. Psychological Medicine, 1–13. 2012. 16–11–2011
23.
Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H, Riedel-Heller SG (1999) Whom to ask for help in case of a mental disorder? Preferences of the lay public. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 34:202–210PubMedCrossRef
24.
WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium (2004) Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey. JAMA 21:2581–2590
25.
Dezetter A, Briffault X, Bruffaerts R, De Graaf R, Alonso J, König HH, Haro JM, de Girolamo G, Vilagut G, Kovess-Masféty V (2012) Use of general practitioners versus mental health professionals in six European countries: the decisive role of the organization of mental health-care systems. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. doi:10.​1007/​s00127-012-0522-9 PubMed
26.
27.
Beldie A, den Boer JA, Brain C et al (2012) Fighting stigma of mental illness in midsize European countries. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 47(Suppl 1):1–38PubMedCrossRef
28.
29.
30.
Alonso J, Buron A, Rojas-Farreas S, de Graaf R, Haro JM, De Girolamo G, Bruffaerts R, Kovess V, Matschinger H, Vilagaut G (2009) Perceived stigma among individuals with common mental disorders. J Affect Disord 118:180–186PubMedCrossRef
31.
Aromaa E, Tolvanen A, Tuulari J, Wahlbeck K (2011) Personal stigma and use of mental health services among people with depression in a general population in Finland. BMC Psychiatry 11:52PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
32.
Frankfort-Nachmias C, Nachmias D (1996) Research methods in the social science. Arnold, London
33.
Ware JE, Kosinski M, Keller (1994) SF. SF-36 Physical and Mental Health Summary Scales: A User’s Manual. MA: The Health Institute, Boston
34.
Schreurs PJG, van de Willige G (1988) Omgaan met problemen en gebeurtenissen: de Utrechtse coping lijst (UCL). Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse
35.
Vogel DL, Wade NG, Haake S (2006) Measuring the self-stigma associated with seeking psychological help. J Couns Psychol 53:325–337CrossRef
36.
Link BG (1987) Understanding labeling effects in the area of mental-disorders-an assessment of the effects of expectations of rejection. Am Sociol Rev 52:96–112CrossRef
37.
Link BG, Struening E, Neese-Todd S, Asmussen S, Phelan JC (2001) The consequences of stigma for the self-esteem of people with mental illnesses. Psychiatric Serv 52:1621–1626CrossRef
38.
Fisher EH, Farina A (1995) Attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help: a shortened form and considerations for research. J Coll Stud Dev 36:368–373
39.
Elhai JD, Schweinle W, Anderson SM (2008) Reliability and validity of the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help scale-short formS Psychiatry Res 159:320–329PubMedCrossRef
40.
Baruch Y (1999) Response rate in academic studies- a comparative analysis. Human relations 52:421–438
41.
Ravens-Sieberer U, Erhart M, Wetzel R, Krügel A, Brambosch A (2008) Phone respondents reported less mental health problems whereas mail interviewee gave higher physical health ratings. J Clin Epidemiol 61:1056–1060PubMedCrossRef
42.
Alonso J, Angermeyer MC, Bernert S, Bruffaerts R (2004) Psychotropic drug utilization in Europe: results from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD) project. Acta Psychiatr Scand 109(Suppl 420):55–64
43.
Hegerl U, Wittenburg L, Arensman E, Van Audenhove C, Coyne JC, McDaid D, van der Feltz-Cornelis C, Gusmão R, Kopp M, Maxwell M, Meise U, Roskar S, Sarchiapone M, Schmidtke A, Värnick A, Bramesfeld A (2009) Optimizing suicide prevention programs and their implementation in Europe (OSPI Europe): an evidence-based multi-level approach. BMC Public Health 9:428PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
Metadata
Title
Attitudes and stigma in relation to help-seeking intentions for psychological problems in low and high suicide rate regions
Authors
A. Reynders
A. J. F. M. Kerkhof
G. Molenberghs
C. Van Audenhove
Publication date
01-02-2014
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology / Issue 2/2014
Print ISSN: 0933-7954
Electronic ISSN: 1433-9285
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-013-0745-4

Other articles of this Issue 2/2014

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2/2014 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Parental socio-economic position during childhood as a determinant of self-harm in adolescence

Original Paper

Stressful psychosocial school environment and suicidal ideation in Chinese adolescents

Original Paper

Community treatment orders: the experiences of Non-Maori and Maori within mainstream and Maori mental health services

Original Paper

Occupational functioning and work impairment in association with personality disorder trait-scores

Original Paper

Pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination among people with depression in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Original Paper

Interpersonal functioning deficits in association with DSM-IV personality disorder dimensions