A Pilot Study of Barriers to Psychiatric Treatment among Japanese Healthcare Workers
<p><em>Background:</em><em> The medical service industry has the highest number of industry-classified workers’ compensation claims related to mental disorders. They are a group of people who particularly need mental health care.</em><em></em></p><p><em>Aims: T</em><em>o</em><em> investigate the barriers to seeking psychiatric treatment among healthcare workers. </em></p><p><em>Methods: </em><em>This cross-sectional survey was conducted for healthcare workers.</em><em> We assessed the relationship between barriers to psychiatric treatment, stress perception, coping methods, and demographic variables.</em></p><p><em>Results: T</em><em>here were 91 respondents in the final analysis (participants’ mean age was 34.73</em><em>±</em><em>11.41). Factor analysis identified three factors that affect resistance to seeking treatment (?=0.83): 1) </em><em>anxiety toward psychiatric medicine</em><em>,</em><em> 2) </em><em>resistance to psychiatric visits</em><em>, and 3) </em><em>lack of belief in the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment</em><em>. C</em><em>orrelation analysis indicated that resistance to psychiatric treatment increased with age (r=0.21, p<0.05). In addition, women scored significantly higher than men concerning resistance toward psychiatric visits, and doctors scored lower than those in other occupations on this measure. </em></p><p><em>Conclusion: These results indicated that </em><em>a main component of resistance was related to resistance toward the word “psychiatric”</em><em>.</em><em> </em><em>It may be useful to avoid using the word </em><em>“</em><em>psychiatric</em><em>”</em><em> with individuals belonging to groups with high resistance to psychiatric treatment when suggesting that they consult a psychiatrist.</em></p>