Exploring attitudes of the general public to stress, depression and help seeking
| Date | 10 July 2009 |
| Pages | 21-31 |
| Published date | 10 July 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17465729200900005 |
| Author | Nicola Coe |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Many pe ople de lay or ne ver see k profe ssio nal help for st ress an d depr essio n. There i s limi ted
research on this topic using qualitative methodologies, but even less exploring the attitudes of the
general population.
This study explores the attitudes and preferences of the general population about when and
where help is sought for stress and depressionthrough the Somerset Health Panels.These comprised
12 two-hour panels held across Somerset, England, involving a total of 96 people.This study reveals
that a p osi tive a nd non-ju dge ment al vi ew of de pre ssion and s tre ss exi sts w ithi n the g ener al
population.The response and suppor t from friends and family is critical in seeking other sources of
help, for which the GP is perceived as a gatekeeper.A preferred hierarchy of professional and non-
professional sources of help exists, which is not entirely consistent with the arrangement of current
services.This research adds to our understanding of how to engage withcommunities more generally
and help s under stan d a gener al popu lation p ersp ective o n mental h ealth issues – in p ar ticula r,
the way servi ces are curren tly arr ange d does not a lways ref lect th e hiera rchy in wh ich people
would prefer to seek help,and that stigma is evident but does not always act as a barrier to eventual
help-seeking.
Exploring attitudes of the
general public to stress,
depression and help seeking
Nicola L Coe
Deputy Director of
Research,Nor th Bristol
NHSTrust
Correspondence to:
Nicola Coe
R&D Office
North Bristol NHS
Trust
Southmead Hospital
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol
BS10 5NB
RESEARCH
21
The prevalence of depression and stress-
related disorders is extremely high – as
many a s one i n thre e peop le wil l be
experienc ing stress or de pression at a
given t ime (O liver e t al, 200 5). The
lifetime likelihoodis up to 50% (Kessler et al, 1994),
yet many people do not seek professional help and
those that do often delay seeking help for a number
of years (Barney et al, 20 06; Christiana et al, 2000 ;
Olive r et al, 2005) . Under stan ding he lp-s eekin g
attitudes, intentions and behavio ur enables health
prof ess iona ls to c onsi der t he sui tab ilit y and
accep tabil ity of availa ble sup port, the per ceive d
barriers to accessing support and, more broadly, the
psychological processes that underpin help-seeking
attitudes and behaviour.
Most of the research published on this topic has
invo lve d clin ica l popu lat ions e xpl orin g the
pref ere nces o f and /or th e beh avio ur of u sers o f
mental health services , and it is recognised within
the cu rre nt lit era ture t hat f ew stu die s have
specificallyfocused on attitudes of thegeneral public
towar d help- seeking for m ental h ealt h probl ems
(Jorm et al, 1997; Priest et al, 19 96). One source of
evid enc e on att itu des of t he ge nera l pub lic is
avail able fr om a UK sur vey, comparing a ttitu des
betw een 1 993 an d 200 3, whi ch fo und th at in
gener al the maj ority of peopl e have a ca ring an d
symp ath etic v iew o f peop le wi th men tal i llne ss
(Department of Health, 200 3a). The survey found
that alt hough at titudes have re mained r elativ ely
constant until 2000, levelsof fear and intolerance of
people with mental illness have increased since and
attitudes are les s positive in older pe ople and men
(Conne ry & Davi dson, 20 06). Stu dies inv olving
non-clinical participants tend to favour a vignette-
journalof public mental health
vol8 • issue 1
©Pavilion Journals (Br ighton) Ltd
Keywords
stress
depression
help-seeking
professional help
mental health problems
participants
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