To explore the role of stigma in relation to treatment avoidance further, we describe here the terms used by 14 year-old school students in England to refer to people with mental illness. Our method was intended to allow young people to express what they thought about mental illness in a way that was not pre structured by attitude scales or vignettes. Much stigma-related research has used vignettes or social distance scales which may constrain what respondents can express about stigma. The purpose of our study was to determine what young people actually think about mental illness/people with mental illness and explore the type of language they use to label it. study explored help-seeking directly, the stigmatising attitudes and beliefs held by young people towards mental illness and people with mental illness which may deter them from seeking help were not explored. The results showed that the young people who correctly labelled the disorder were also those who most identified appropriate help-seeking and treatment options. After being shown a vignette of either a young person with depression or psychosis, each participant was asked what they thought was wrong with the person in the vignette, how long the person should wait to get help and what form of help they should seek. Ī recent study investigated whether accurate recognition and labelling of mental disorders by young people (aged 12 to 25 years) is associated with better help-seeking preferences. There are therefore grounds to consider that stigma may be one important factor in reducing help-seeking for mental illnesses, for example by avoiding the embarrassment of diagnosis. Young people who believe that mental illnesses are the responsibility of the person affected are more likely to react to people who are mentally ill with anger, pitilessness or avoidance. Attributions for the cause of the condition are also important. Commonly young people feel that mental illness is embarrassing, should be handled privately, and people with these views tend to seek help less often. Conversely, young people with mental illness may be exposed to higher levels of stigma than adults. Compared with adults, young people have less favourable attitudes towards people with mental illness. There is also fairly strong evidence that negative emotions and attitudes act as barriers to care. Only 1% mentioned school counselling, 1% nominated helplines, 4% recommended talking with friends, 10% said that they would turn to a doctor, but over a third (35%) were unsure where to find help. For example, in Scotland most children do not know what to do if they have a mental health problem, or what to recommend to a friend with mental health difficulties. In relation to knowledge about mental illness it is clear that there are striking knowledge gaps. It can be considered as an amalgamation of three related problems: a lack of knowledge (ignorance), negative attitudes (prejudice), and excluding or avoiding behaviours (discrimination). Stigma is a term which has evaded clear, operational definition. Recent work has focussed attention on whether young people know enough to allow them to correctly identify mental illness in themselves or in their peers (so called 'mental health literacy'), and upon their emotional/attitudinal responses (and associated stigma) to people with mental illness, as potential explanatory factors for help-seeking or help-avoidance. But such factors do not fully explain the very low rates of consultation among young people who are mentally ill. Research on help-seeking has paid particular attention to the confidentiality of healthcare, young people's knowledge about services, and how accessible they are. This paper argues that the stigma against mental illness is a powerful (and potentially reversible) contributory factor towards the reluctance of many young people to seek help for mental illness. As few as 4% of young people with a mental illness seek help from a family doctor, and consultation rates are especially low among young men. Teenagers seek help less often than adults. Those who do, more often turn to friends and family for help than to health professionals. Up to half of those who fail to complete secondary school have mental illness. The rates for some mental disorders, including suicide, are increasing. Yet mental illnesses among children and adolescents are common, affecting about 10% of young people. Most young people who are mentally ill do not seek help.
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