Mental illness stigma, help seeking, and public health programs.
Claire Henderson, Sara Evans-Lacko, Graham Thornicroft
Author Information
Claire Henderson: Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. aire.1.henderson@kcl.ac.uk
Globally, more than 70% of people with mental illness receive no treatment from health care staff. Evidence suggests that factors increasing the likelihood of treatment avoidance or delay before presenting for care include (1) lack of knowledge to identify features of mental illnesses, (2) ignorance about how to access treatment, (3) prejudice against people who have mental illness, and (4) expectation of discrimination against people diagnosed with mental illness. In this article, we reviewed the evidence on whether large-scale anti-stigma campaigns could lead to increased levels of help seeking.
References
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2013 Sep;59(6):535-44
[PMID: 22588248]
