2017/02/03 by Nina Schnyder, Radoslaw Panczak, Nicola Groth +2 · 725 citations
Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Association (psychology) #Clinical psychology #Environmental health #Family medicine #Help-seeking #Medicine #Mental Health Treatment and Access #Mental health #Mental illness #Meta-analysis #Nursing #Population #Psychiatry #Psychology #Psychotherapist #Public health #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research #Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology #Social stigma #Stigma (botany)
paper · pdf · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.116.189464
published in The British Journal of Psychiatry 210(4), 261-268 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2017/02/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Background Mental disorders create high individual and societal costs and burden, partly because help-seeking is often delayed or completely avoided. Stigma related to mental disorders or mental health services is regarded as a main reason for insufficient help-seeking. Aims To estimate the impact of four stigma types (help-seeking attitudes and personal, self and perceived public stigma) on active help-seeking in the general population. Method A systematic review of three electronic databases was followed by random effect meta-analyses according to the stigma types. Results Twenty-seven studies fulfilled eligibility criteria. Participants' own negative attitudes towards mental health help-seeking (OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.73–0.88) and their stigmatising attitudes towards people with a mental illness (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.69–0.98) were associated with less active help-seeking. Self-stigma showed insignificant association (OR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.76–1.03), whereas perceived public stigma was not associated. Conclusions Personal attitudes towards mental illness or help-seeking are associated with active help-seeking for mental problems. Campaigns promoting help-seeking and fighting mental illness-related stigma should target these personal attitudes rather than broad public opinion.