ReviewNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2016
Beliefs and perception about mental health issues: a meta-synthesis.
Review in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Community perception towards mental health problems in Ethiopia: a mixed-method narrative synthesis.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Machine Learning for Multimodal Mental Health Detection: A Systematic Review of Passive Sensing Approaches.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Interventions to Reduce Stigma Related to Mental Illnesses in Educational Institutes: a Systematic Review.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2020Pooled it
- Internalized stigma and psychache in individuals with mental disorders: a cross-sectional comparative study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Psychiatric diagnosis and perceived health impact attributed to adverse childhood experiences: multidimensional impulsivity pathways in Saudi adults.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- A qualitative study of the impact of the World Health Organisation QualityRights human rights and mental health Training on changing attitudes to mental health and human rights in Ghana.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Culturally sensitive approaches in digital mental health research: lessons learned from co-developing the core mental health dataset.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Mental health and psychosocial support among refugee children and adolescents with HIV in West Nile Uganda: An exploratory study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Developing a comprehensive scale for measuring explanatory models of mental disorders among Japanese adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Mental Health Care for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Methamphetamine Use in Methadone Maintenance Treatment: Experiences and Perspectives.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2025Article
- The meaning of 'acceptance' of a psychiatric diagnosis: qualitative study of illness narratives with review of the literature.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Psychological distress in Saudi prostate cancer patients: exploring prevalence and sociodemographic influences.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Public Beliefs and Perception of Mental Disorders in Poland-A 2025 Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Understanding the experiences of nursing students in the context of telenursing in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Influence of Perceived Stress on the Depression of Information Technology (IT) Workers: Chain Mediating Effect of Self-Esteem and Self-Control.Iranian journal of public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Factor structure and predictors of causal beliefs about seven mental illnesses among the Singapore general population.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Dimensionality of the Spanish Version of the Universal Mental Health Literacy Scale Among Colombian Adults.Nursing research and practice · 2025Article
- Exploring Health-Seeking Behaviors Among Healthcare Workers and the General Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Quantitative Study.Health services insights · 2025Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMental health literacy is the beliefs and knowledge about mental health issues and their remedies. Attitudes and beliefs of lay individuals about mental illness are shaped by personal knowledge about mental illness, knowing and interacting with someone living with mental illness, and cultural stereotypes. Mental health issues are increasing and are alarming in almost every part of the world, and hence compiling this review provides an opportunity to understand the different views regarding mental disorders and problems as well as to fill the gap in the published literature by focusing only on the belief system and perception of mental health problems among general population.
methodThe methodology involved a systematic review and the meta-synthesis method, which includes synthesizing published qualitative studies on mental health perception and beliefs. SAMPLE: Fifteen relevant published qualitative and mixed-method studies, regarding the concept of mental health, were identified for meta-synthesis. ANALYSIS: All the themes of the selected studies were further analyzed to give a broader picture of mental health problems and their perceived causes and management. Only qualitative studies, not older than 2010, focusing on beliefs about, attitudes toward, and perceptions of mental health problems, causes, and treatments were included in this review.
resultsThe findings are divided into four major categories, namely, 1) symptoms of mental health issues, 2) description of mental health issues, 3) perceived causes, and 4) preferred treatment and help-seeking behavior. Each category contains themes and subthemes based on published studies.
conclusionThe findings reveal multiple causes of, descriptions of, and treatment options for mental health problems, thereby providing insight into different help-seeking behaviors. Clarity is offered by highlighting cultural differences and similarities in mental health beliefs and perceptions about the causes of mental health problems. The implications of the studies and recommendations based on current findings are also discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.