Non-professional-help-seeking among young people with depression: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents and young adults often suffer from depression, but tend to avoid seeking professional help. The aim of this study was to explore the reasons for non-professional-help-seeking in a sample of young adults resident in Catalonia with depressive symptoms through a qualitative study. In addition, the subjects were invited to offer their recommendations for making mental health care services more accessible.MethodsWe recruited 105 young persons (17–21 years of age) who had participated in a national survey on adolescents. The sample was divided into thirds, with 37 who had a previous diagnosis of depression, 33 who had self-perceived emotional distress, and 35 controls. The participants were interviewed in depth about their reasons for avoiding professional mental health care services, and the interview results were analyzed using both qualitative and cultural domain techniques and corroborated through comparison with the results of three focus groups.ResultsParticipants’ reasons for avoidance varied both by gender and according to prior experience with health services. Male study participants and female controls mainly understood depressive symptoms as normal and therefore not requiring treatment. Female participants with self-perceived distress were more likely to cite problems of access to treatment and fear of speaking to an unknown person about their problems. Females with a diagnosis expressed lack of trust in the benefits of treatment and fear of the social consequences of help-seeking. In their recommendations for best practices, the study participants suggested educational initiatives, as well as changes in the organization of mental health care services.ConclusionsA better understanding of the views of young people and a greater effort to involve them as active participants is important for facilitating help-seeking in this age group, and for adapting mental health care services to adolescent users and their social context.

Predictors of Mental Health Service Use by Young Adults: A Systematic Review

“…The identified gender differences may partly reflect masculine norms, including reliance on one's own strengths and resources (79). Thus, by challenging stereotypes and reducing perceived, use of social media to normalize utilization of professional services may help narrow the gender gap in service use and encourage young men to seek professional help (80).…”

“…Mental health professionals should consider the specific demands, preferences, and needs of young adults, especially those from potentially vulnerable subgroups, when providing care. This includes their preference for personalized and age-appropriate services and flexible interpersonal communication styles (80,81). Clinicians must be specifically trained in cultural sensitivity and competence to increase intake, retention, and successful treatment of individuals from racial-ethnic minority groups and other vulnerable young clients (24,82).…”

Using artificial intelligence on dermatology conditions in Uganda: A case for diversity in training data sets for machine learning

“…The study population was relatively young with a median age of 23 years, this is largely from the fact that these images were from the electronic medical records of a tele-health platform for which studies have always related young age with uptake and usage of digital platforms for medical care [22,23]. This further creates an opportunity to leverage on AI applications for dermatological medical care among the young people who often do not have enough resources and rely on peer to peer consultations when managing skin problems a trend seen with other medical problems like mental, sexual and reproductive health [24].…”

What do counsellors need to know about male depression?

“…There has been speculation in the scientific literature about this being related to masculine role socialisation (Courtenay, 2000) which thwarts the acquisition of skills, by men, in expressing or in recognising their emotions (Ridge, Emslie, & White, 2011). In extreme cases, this can result in total dissociation from one's emotional worldwhat Levant (1998) has termed normative male alexithymia. However, more recently, research has demonstrated that the lower incidence rate of depression in men may be due to depressed men's inhibitions in disclosing their condition, as a function of their perception of others' reactions to their disclosure (Galasi ski, 2008;Gough, 2016).…”