title: Barriers to treatment seeking in primary insomnia in the United Kingdom: a cross-sectional perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the most commonly perceived barriers to treatment seeking among individuals in the United Kingdom diagnosed with primary insomnia. Although there are effective treatments, the rate of insomnia in the United Kingdom is 22%, which is substantially higher than in other parts of Europe and in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional.
  
  
  METHODS
  Treatment and research clinic at a university department of psychiatry.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-six women and 29 men who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-TR criteria for primary insomnia who had (n = 48) or had not (n = 37) sought treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  N/A.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Endorsement of reasons for not seeking treatment on the Barriers to Treatment Questionnaire. The most commonly endorsed reasons for not seeking treatment were the perception of insomnia as benign, trivial, or a problem that one should be able to cope with alone. Other commonly endorsed barriers to treatment related to lack of awareness of treatment options and to perception of the available treatment options as ineffective and unattractive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the chronicity and serious adverse consequences of insomnia, this study suggests that programs of public health awareness designed to reduce the perception of insomnia as trivial and to increase awareness of the effective treatments available may be important for reducing the prevalence of insomnia in the United Kingdom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stinson
authors.forename: Nicole K Y
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Allison G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology