Seeking informal and formal help for mental health problems in the community: a secondary analysis from a psychiatric morbidity survey in South London

Abstract

BackgroundOnly 30-35% of people with mental health problems seek help from professionals. Informal help, usually from friends, family and religious leaders, is often sought but is under-researched. This study aimed to contrast patterns of informal and formal help-seeking using data from a community psychiatric morbidity survey (n=1692) (South East London Community Health (SELCOH) Study).MethodsPatterns of help-seeking were analysed by clinical, sociodemographic and socioeconomic indicators. Factors associated with informal and formal help-seeking were investigated using logistic regression. Cross-tabulations examined informal help-seeking patterns from different sources.Results‘Cases’ (n = 386) were participants who had scores of ≥ 12 on the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R), indicating a common mental disorder. Of these, 40.1% had sought formal help, (of whom three-quarters (29%) had also sought informal help), 33.6% had sought informal help only and only 26.3% had sought no help. When controlling for non-clinical variables, severity, depression, suicidal ideas, functioning and longstanding illnesses were associated with formal rather than informal help-seeking. Age and ethnic group influenced sources of informal help used. Younger people most frequently sought informal help only whereas older people tended to seek help from their family. There were ethnic group differences in whether help was sought from friends, family or religious leaders.ConclusionsThis study has shown how frequently informal help is used, whether in conjunction with formal help or not. Among the ‘cases’, over 60% had sought informal help, whether on its own or together with formal help. Severity was associated with formal help-seeking. Patterns of informal help use have been found. The use and effectiveness of informal help merit urgent research.

Global patterns of workplace productivity for people with depression: absenteeism and presenteeism costs across eight diverse countries

“…Previous research from Japan found a significant relationship between depression (as identified by a psychiatric epidemiological survey using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview [27]) and lower presenteeism, but did not identify a significant relationship between presence of depression and absenteeism [9]. It may be that our sample identified a relationship between depression and absenteeism in Japan as our criteria for depression identified individuals with more severe depression, given they had to receive a diagnosis by a medical professional (Brown et al [28]; Bebbington et al [29]) and that there is a high threshold of depression severity which warrants absenteeism in Japan.…”

Help-Seeking Patterns Among the General Population in Singapore: Results from the Singapore Mental Health Study 2016

“…It might also be due to stigma and the fear of being dismissed from their jobs if their employers find out that they have mental disorders (Honkonen et al 2007), which may have led to low help-seeking in this group. Those who were employed tended to seek informal help, while the unemployed were more likely to seek formal and informal help (Brown et al 2014). The unemployed may have more time (Honkonen et al 2007), have less social support, and lack financial means (Khlat et al 2013).…”

Perceived Stigma of Sudden Bereavement as a Risk Factor for Suicidal Thoughts and Suicide Attempt: Analysis of British Cross-Sectional Survey Data on 3387 Young Bereaved Adults

“…Classification of formal and informal bereavement support was derived from similar British [32] and international [33] studies of service use . Self-help was excluded due to problematic categorisation in relation to formal versus informal bereavement support [34].…”