Role of stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking from a general practitioner for mental health problems in a rural town.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the role of perceived stigma and attitudes to seeking care in predicting help-seeking from a general practitioner (GP) for mental health problems.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey in 2002 with self-report questionnaires assessing current levels of symptomatology, disability, attitudes towards mental illness, knowledge of prevalence and causes of mental illness, contact with mental illness and help-seeking behaviour and preferences and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.


RESULTS
No significant relationship was found between symptom measures and measures of disability and help-seeking. Variables positively associated with general attitudes to seeking professional psychological help were: lower perceived stigma, and biological rather than person-based causal attributions for schizophrenia. Willingness to discuss mental health issues with a GP was predicted by the perceived helpfulness of the GP and by no other variable.


CONCLUSIONS
Causal attributions and perceived stigma rather than participants' levels of symptomatology and disability influence attitudes to help-seeking for mental health issues. Efforts to improve attitudes to help-seeking should focus on reducing stigma and improving mental health literacy regarding the causes of disorders.
Wrigley
Sarah
S
North Western Aged Person's Mental Health Program, Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Jackson
Henry
H
Judd
Fiona
F
Komiti
Angela
A
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires