ArticleEpidemiology and psychiatric sciences2019
Individuals with currently untreated mental illness: causal beliefs and readiness to seek help.
Article in Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- The help-seeking process and predictors of mental health care use among individuals with depressive symptoms: a machine learning approach.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- The Seeking Mental Health Care model: prediction of help-seeking for depressive symptoms by stigma and mental illness representations.BMC public health · 2023Trial
- How can the utilisation of help for mental disorders be improved? A quasi-experimental online study on the changeability of stigmatising attitudes and intermediate variables in the process of utilisation.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Lived experiences of how the care relationship in primary healthcare contributes to recovery from stress-related disorders: a reflective lifeworld research study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Mental health service coverage and gaps among adults in Europe: a systematic review.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Review
- Navigating mental health issues: exploring cultural causal attribution, stigmatization, and care recommendation behavior in Pakistani adolescents and young adults.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Urgency to treat and early optimized treatment in major depressive disorder: consequences of delayed treatment, barriers to implementation, and practical strategies for clinicians.CNS spectrums · 2025Review
- Service use patterns in community mental health outreach: A sequence analysis of the first 12-month longitudinal data.PloS one · 2025Article
- Factor structure and predictors of causal beliefs about seven mental illnesses among the Singapore general population.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Stigmatisation of survivors of political persecution in the GDR: attitudes of healthcare professionals.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Mental health literacy of adolescents in Bermuda, according to age, gender and race.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Examining illness perceptions over time: an exploratory prospective analysis of causal attributions in individuals with depressive symptoms.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Intentions and barriers to help-seeking in adolescents and young adults differing in depression severity: cross-sectional results from a school-based mental health project.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- Seeking professional help for sleep-related complaints.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Service intensity of community mental health outreach among people with untreated mental health problems in Japan: A retrospective cohort study.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2023Article
- Influence of mental health literacy on help-seeking behaviour for mental health problems in the Swiss young adult community: a cohort and longitudinal case-control study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
- The effects of causal and self-efficacy beliefs on help-seeking for people with depressive complaints: a quasi-experimental online study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Beliefs about mental health in incarcerated males: a qualitative interview study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Adolescent help-seeking: an exploration of associations with perceived cause of emotional distress.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Gaming Your Mental Health: A Narrative Review on Mitigating Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using Commercial Video Games.JMIR serious games · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsMany people with mental illness do not seek professional help. Beliefs about the causes of their current health problem seem relevant for initiating treatment. Our aim was to find out to what extent the perceived causes of current untreated mental health problems determine whether a person considers herself/himself as having a mental illness, perceives need for professional help and plans to seek help in the near future.
methodsIn a cross-sectional study, we examined 207 untreated persons with a depressive syndrome, all fulfilling criteria for a current mental illness as confirmed with a structured diagnostic interview (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview). The sample was recruited in the community using adverts, flyers and social media. We elicited causal explanations for the present problem, depression literacy, self-identification as having a mental illness, perceived need for professional help, help-seeking intentions, severity of depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire - Depression), and whether respondents had previously sought mental healthcare.
resultsMost participants fulfilled diagnostic criteria for a mood disorder (n = 181, 87.4%) and/or neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders (n = 120, 58.0%) according to the ICD-10. N = 94 (45.4%) participants had never received mental health treatment previously. Exploratory factor analysis of a list of 25 different causal explanations resulted in five factors: biomedical causes, person-related causes, childhood trauma, current stress and unhealthy behaviour. Attributing the present problem to biomedical causes, person-related causes, childhood trauma and stress were all associated with stronger self-identification as having a mental illness. In persons who had never received mental health treatment previously, attribution to biomedical causes was related to greater perceived need and stronger help-seeking intentions. In those with treatment experience, lower attribution to person-related causes and stress were related to greater perceived need for professional help.
conclusionsWhile several causal explanations are associated with self-identification as having a mental illness, only biomedical attributions seem to be related to increase perceived need and help-seeking intentions, especially in individuals with no treatment experiences. Longitudinal studies investigating causal beliefs and help-seeking are needed to find out how causal attributions guide help-seeking behaviour. From this study it seems possible that portraying professional mental health treatment as not being restricted to biomedical problems would contribute to closing the treatment gap for mental disorders.
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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.