Understanding the Obstacles to Seeking Therapy - Treatment Centers

The decision to seek out help for a perceived mental health challenge may include many factors. The cost and availability of meeting with a therapist can often be a deterrent. However, there are additional influences on the decision that are more difficult to pinpoint.

In an effort to understand the more complex factors that may influence a person?s decision to seek therapy, a recent study examined the decisions of college students related to seeking help for mental heath concerns.

In contrast to the general public, college students are generally able to overcome the cost and availability of therapy. On-campus services generally provide low or no-fee counseling services to students, so availability and cost are not factors.

For many students, however, there may be an awareness of a negative stigma attached to seeking therapy or a lack of social support for their decision. The study, led by Suk Kyung Nam, an assistant professor of psychology at Kyungnam University in Korea, analyzed the responses of college students regarding various factors involved with the decision to engage in therapy.

Given that the avoidance of treatment for a mental health issue may result in additional serious problems, including challenges in professional or academic life, along with emotional struggles, the study?s authors hoped to improve outreach programs that encourage students to seek help.

The study consisted of a meta-analysis of 19 studies that included the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale.

The examination of the studies revealed that there were several factors that influenced the enrollment in therapy. Included among positive factors was an anticipation of the benefits of therapy as the strongest predictor of a student seeking help. Self-disclosure was the second-most cited reason for seeking help.

This finding revealed that those students, who believed that treatment would result in improvement of their condition, combined with a willingness to share problems with another person or in a group, exhibited the factors that best predicted a likelihood of seeking help.

There were also negative factors that were predictors of a student not seeking help. Those who had little emotional support and a low level of disclosure were not likely to seek treatment. In addition, the perception of a negative stigma attached to therapy contributed to many students not seeking treatment.

Nam explained that many of the students had a perception that seeking out treatment was socially unacceptable, an experience that can lead to a lowering of self-worth and self-esteem.

The findings highlight the need for increased awareness among college students related to the benefits of seeking out therapy. A higher level of awareness may help offset the stigma that many college students associate with therapy.

The findings were published in a recent issue of the journal Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.

Source: http://www.treatmentcenters.net/psychiatry-mental-health/obstacles-seeking-therapy/

national inquirer knicks vs heat ash wednesday kate walsh cnn debate equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash