title: An assessment of beliefs about mental health care among veterans who served in Iraq.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed beliefs about mental health treatment in a group of soldiers newly returning from the war in Iraq.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 20 National Guard soldiers who had served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soldiers who in phone interviews screened positive for a mental disorder were asked about advantages and disadvantages of seeking treatment, who would or would not support treatment seeking, and facilitators and barriers to treatment seeking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Stigma was portrayed as a major disadvantage to treatment seeking. Yet most participants indicated that people would be supportive of treatment seeking. Reducing symptoms was a major advantage of care. Barriers, especially those viewed as "self-induced," such as pride, not being able to ask for help, and not being able to admit to having a problem, were considered major impediments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that interventions developed to engage veterans in care must be directed toward cognitive factors that motivate treatment seeking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72114, USA. steckertracy@uams.edu
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stecker
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fortney
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Icek
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ajzen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007493:Iraq; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*