Psychiatry
Younger people with psychiatric symptoms least likely to seek help from GP
By Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK
Apr 6, 2005, 18:32

Younger people (aged 16-24) with psychiatric symptoms are least likely to seek help from their GP, according to a new study.

It is known that many people with mental health problems do not seek professional help, but their use of other sources of help is unclear.

This study, published in the 2005 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, set out to investigate patterns of professional and lay help-seeking in men and women aged 16-64 in relation to severity of symptoms and socio-demographic variables.

Postal questionnaires were sent to a random sample of 15,222 adults aged 16-64 registered with a GP in Somerset. Because of the possible stigma associated with mental health problems, the phrase 'stress or strain' was used instead. The response rate was 76%.

Attitudes to seeking help
81.2% said that they would seek some form of help if they thought their health was suffering as a result of stress or strain. Men were less likely than women to say that they would seek help.

The preferred source of help was friends or relatives (63.1%). 14.3% said that they would not seek help from their GP. The proportion of people who indicated that they would consult their GP increased with age: 31.7% of 16 - 24-year-olds compared with 66.9% of 55 - 64-year-olds.

Help-seeking behaviour among people with high scores for psychiatric problems
Over 20% of those with higher scores had not sought help from anyone. Men were less likely to have sought some form of help, and the most commonly used source of help was friends and relatives.

Only 28% of people with extremely high scores for psychiatric problems had sought help from their GP, but most (78%) had sought some form of help. 6.1% of people with high scores said that they had sought help from a counsellor, and 6.2% cited other sources of help, such as the manager or boss at work, work colleagues, or medical professionals other than the GP.

The factors most strongly associated with some form of help-seeking were female gender, whilst the factors associated with GP consultation were increasing age, and living in a more socio-economically deprived area. Possible reasons for this could include weaker social support networks, or having more time to visit the GP e.g. as a result of unemployment.

The authors of the study comment that people's attitudes to help-seeking correlate well with how they actually behave. It is possible that the people with high psychiatric problem scores who do not seek help from any source may be at increased risk of suicide or long-term mental illness.

Young men are particularly reluctant to seek help unless severely distressed, which may be important in understanding the high suicide rate among this group.

Possible reasons for the reluctance to seek help from the GP may include the stigma associated with mental health problems; and concerns that GPs are not well trained in this area, that a record in their notes will affect future job prospects, and that the GP will prescribe drugs.

The authors conclude that health services should promote and support self and lay care for minor mental health problems, and improve people's knowledge of both when and how to seek professional help, or provide effective care for a depressed friend or family member.

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