scholarly journals A study of help seeking behavior of psychiatric patients

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
SN Pradhan ◽  
SC Sharma ◽  
DP Malla ◽  
R Sharma

Background: A large number of mentally ill patients prefer to visit non-medical practitioners such as faith healers becauseof the stigma attached to mental illness and/or belief that mental illness are caused by supernatural powers. Faith healersare more convenient to be approached fi rst because of ease of availability and prevalent cultural belief and persuasion.Objective: The current study aims to fi nd the help seeking behavior of patients suffering from mental illness and whomthey approach fi rst once affected, either psychiatrists or faith healers.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among patients admitted in the psychiatric ward of Kathmandu MedicalCollege Teaching Hospital during 1st January to 30th July 2012. All patients admitted in the ward during that period wereinformed about the purpose of the study and a written informed consent was taken. In case of psychotic patients, theconsent was obtained from nearby relatives.Results: Among 54 patients enrolled in the study, signifi cant number of psychotic patients (n=15) visited faith healersin comparison to only 4 non-psychotic patients. Number of females (n=12) visiting faith healers in comparison to males(n=7) was higher. Patients having belief in black magic were more likely to visit faith healers than those who were nonbelievers.In contrary to the popular belief, patients approaching the faith healers spent more money (>$20) in the treatment thanwho approached psychiatrists (<$20).Conclusion: The study shows that most of the patients suffering from mental illness prefer to approach faith healers fi rstbecause of the prevailing trust on faith healers, because they are locally available and because of a prevailing belief insupernatural causation of mental illness.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jkmc.v2i1.10538 Journal of Kathmandu Medical College, Vol. 2, No. 1, Issue 3, Jan.-Mar., 2013: 21-24

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Seyhan Sönmez ◽  
Ersen Eraydın ◽  
Yalçın Arıcan ◽  
Ferhan Sönmez

<p><strong>Objectives:</strong> The aim of this study was to determine the patient and UI-related factors affecting help seeking behavior of Turkish women with undiagnosed urinary incontinence</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This cross-sectional study was conducted on 490 female patients aged &gt; 18 years old and were seen in general gynecology outpatients’ clinic of Denizli State Hospital. According to referral complaint and results of UDI-6 questionnaire, the participants were classified into 3 groups: Group A: Help seeker patient, Group B: Non help seeker patient and Group C: Continent patient.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Overall UI prevelance was 24%. Nearly two thirds ( 67% ) of the UI patients do not complaint about their UI symptoms unless they were asked specifically about UI. Consultation rate increased with age, duration of incontinence, menopause and the severity of UI. After logistic regression analyses, only increasing age, UDI-6 score and severity (SSS) were found to be associated independently with help seeking behavior.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study showed that, older, more bothered and severe UI patients visit physician and seek medical help. Still nearly half of women who are suffering from clinically significant UI remain undiagnosed and untreated. Regardless the visiting reason if its asked specifically for UI symptoms by using simple questionnaires, we can reveal and diagnose this patients’ group that is suffering from UI but yet keeps it disguise .</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Urinary incontinence, help seeking behavior, undiagnosed urinary incontinence</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-30
Author(s):  
R. Amatya ◽  
P. Chakrabortty ◽  
J.B. Khattri ◽  
P. Thapa ◽  
K. Ramesh

Introduction: Stigma is a sign of disgrace or discredit that sets a person apart from others. Stigma has detrimental effect on stigmatized persons’ life which may even hamper or delay the help seeking behavior, which ultimately increases the duration of untreated mental illness. Material And Method: A cross sectional survey was conducted among 90 psychiatry outpatients attending Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Discrimination and disclosure sub-scale of the Stigma scale and ISMI- 10 was administered to measure the extent of stigma. Help seeking delay was assessed using pre- structured questionnaire. Prediction of help seeking delay due to stigma was identified using logistic regression. Results: Low mean value on the subscales of the Stigma scale indicated low public stigma in the participants. 34% of the study population exhibited moderate to high self stigma. The full model for initial help seeking delay using logistic regression explained 21.8% (Cox and Snell R square) and 31.5% (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in initial help seeking delay while the model for the recent help seeking delay explained 13.6% (Cox and Snell R square) and 20.8 % (Nagelkerke R square) of the variance in recent help seeking delay. The strongest predictor of both initial and recent help seeking delay was discrimination subscale (OR= 1.11; 95% CI= 1.033- 1.195). Conclusion: Discrimination experienced due to stigmatization leads to delay in help seeking behavior. Public stigma experienced by stigmatized individual acts as a stronger predictor for help seeking delay than self stigma.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke M. Boerema ◽  
Annet Kleiboer ◽  
Aartjan T. F. Beekman ◽  
Kim van Zoonen ◽  
Henriëtte Dijkshoorn ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205031211878809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salman Alahmed ◽  
Irfan Anjum ◽  
Emad Masuadi

Objectives: Cultural beliefs often affect people’s attitude toward mental illness and their help-seeking behavior. Belief in superstitious causes of mental illness can lead to seeking help from non-medical practitioners, which might hinder treatment. This study aimed to explore the perception of mental illness and help-seeking behavior among healthcare students. Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 400 randomly selected undergraduate health professional students in Riyadh. Data collection involved two self-administered questionnaires: the causes and treatment routes for a female vignette with psychosis and the General Health Questionnaire-28. Results: The mean age of participants was 20.9 years, and 68.2% were male. Although participants reported a lack of personal history of mental illness (81.9%), female participants were more likely to disclose psychological distress as measured by General Health Questionnaire-28 (67.6%). Mental illness (47.2%) was chosen as the main reason for the problem depicted by the female vignette. General Health Questionnaire-28 scores for “caseness” did not affect perception about psychosis versus non-caseness. Factor analysis produced four dimensions for causes of psychosis: “social,” “psychobiological,” “superstitious,” and “socially undesirable”; and two treatment routes: “clinical” versus “social interventions.” Male participants leaned toward social factors for the cause of psychosis and were more likely to endorse social interventions for treatment. Conclusion: Healthcare students in Riyadh remained supportive of a biomedical approach toward the causation and treatment of mental illness. The use of religious practices as an adjunct was apparent. Students, especially females, were prone to experience more psychological distress.


Author(s):  
Suzaily Wahab ◽  
Nicholas Elam Shah ◽  
Sarmeswaran Sivachandran ◽  
Izzati Shahruddin ◽  
Nik Nor Shaida Ismail ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The attitude of medical personnel towards suicide may influence the outcome of suicidal-patients management. This study aimed to determine the attitudes of medical undergraduates towards suicide and its association with their help-seeking behavior. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 290 medical undergraduates was conducted in a Malaysian university. The questionnaires on the attitude towards suicide and general help-seeking behavior were used as research instruments. Results The mean age of the participants was 22.4 years. Participants who did psychiatry posting indicated a greater tendency to agree on suicide as a way of communication (p = 0.008) than those who did not. Participants previously diagnosed with a psychiatric illness indicated a greater ability to understand and accept suicide (p < 0.001) as well as a greater tendency to agree on the normality of suicide (p = 0.019) than those without a previous diagnosis. Those who attended a suicide prevention program also indicated a greater tendency to agree that loneliness and avoidance could be triggers to suicide (p = 0.037) than those who did not. No correlation was found between the “attitude towards suicide” and “general help-seeking behavior” variable. Conclusion Education programs in suicide prevention and management need to be incorporated early into the undergraduate medical curriculum to cultivate a more positive attitude towards suicide and help-seeking behavior.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S577-S577 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Ouali ◽  
R. Jomli ◽  
R. Nefzi ◽  
H. Ouertani ◽  
F. Nacef

IntroductionMental patients generally internalize some of the negative conceptions about how most people view them: they might be considered incompetent or untrustworthy or believe that people would not want to hire, or marry someone with mental illness. A lot of research on stigma has been conducted in western countries; however, little is still known on the situation in Arab-Muslim societies.ObjectivesTo evaluate social stigma as viewed by patients suffering from severe mental illness (SMI)MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study on clinically stabilized patients with schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder (BD) according to DSM IV, who were interviewed in our out-patients clinic with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire, containing 8 opinions on the social inclusion and stigmatization of psychiatric patients, with special reference to the local cultural context (e.g.: “It is better to hide mental illness in order to preserve the reputation of my family”)ResultsWe included 104 patients, 51% with schizophrenia and 49% with BD. Mean age was 38.4 years (18–74 years); 59.6% were males. Overall social stigma scores were high. Social stigma in patients was correlated with gender, age, place of residence and diagnosis. Patients with BD showed significantly less social stigma than patients with schizophrenia.ConclusionOur results show the need for a better understanding of this phenomenon in patients with SMI, but also within Tunisian society, in order to elaborate anti stigma strategies adapted to the local context.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


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