Adolescents’ Suicidal Thinking and Reluctance to Consult General Medical Practitioners

Abstract

Appropriate help-seeking is widely recognized as a protective factor, and vital for early treatment and prevention of mental health problems during adolescence. General medical practitioners (GPs), that is, family doctors, provide a vital role in the identification of adolescents with mental health problems and the provision of treatment as well as access to other specialists in mental health care services. The current study examined the association between suicidal ideation and intentions to seek help from a GP for suicidal thoughts, emotional problems and physical health problems, using a sample of 590 Australian high school students that was 56.7% female and aged 13-18 years (M = 15.56 years, SD = .66 years). Higher levels of suicidal ideation and general psychological distress were related to lower intentions to seek help from a GP for suicidal and physical problems. The results suggest that even at subclinical levels, increases in suicidal ideation or psychological distress may lead to help avoidance. School personnel and other gatekeepers need to be aware of this trend in order to be more assertive in encouraging and supporting appropriate help-seeking for mental health problems. School health promotion programs should consider including information to explicitly address the help-negation process.

Evaluating factors and interventions that influence help-seeking and mental health service utilization among suicidal individuals: A review of the literature

“…Numerous studies indicate that adolescents with more severe suicidal ideation have lower rates of help-seeking behaviors and intentions than those with less severe ideation (Carlton & Deane, 2000;Deane, Wilson, & Ciarrochi, 2001;Gould et al, 2004;Husky, McGuire, Flynn, Chrostowski, & Olfson, 2009;Kitagawa et al, 2014;Rickwood, Deane, & Wilson, 2007;Wilson, Deane, Marshall, & Dalley, 2010). Although this may seem counterintuitive, these findings align with the concept of help-negation.…”

Testing a Model of Functional Impairment in Telephone Crisis Support Workers

“…Moderate, and 33-48 Critical suicidal ideation (Reynolds, 1991;Wilson, Deane, Marshall, & Dalley, 2010). In the current study, removal of the item 'I thought about writing a will' produced a highly reliable scale (α = .91, 7 items).…”

Programas de prevención del suicidio adolescente en establecimientos escolares: una revisión de la literatura

“…Sin embargo, las intervenciones de prevención validadas para los niveles selectivos y universales son menos 21,22 , ya sea por falta de políticas públicas dirigidas a la prevención, o por falta de criterios basados en la evidencia para el diseño de la intervención 23 . Con respecto a la prevención del suicidio en adolescentes escolares (nivel selectivo), a los aspectos antes mencionados, se agrega el hecho que son pocos los adolescentes que piden ayuda por ideación suicida, ya sea a un adulto (padres, familiares, médicos, psicólogos) o a sus propios pares [24][25][26] , lo cual no ocurre en la vida adulta [24][25][26][27][28] . Se dificulta así la detección y el tratamiento oportuno de aquellos jóvenes en riesgo de morir por esta causa.…”