Americans’ Attitudes Toward Mental Health Treatment Are Changing

SAN DIEGO —Seeking professional help for mental health problems is now more accepted by Americans than it was more than a decade ago, and there is less of a perceived stigma attached to seeking mental health help, according to Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. However, the public’s belief about the effectiveness of mental health treatment and the likelihood of recovery without treatment has changed very little. Dr. Mojtabai presented his findings at the 160th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

The results are based on subsamples from two national surveys—5,388 participants from the National Comorbidity Survey, which was distributed from 1990 to 1992, and 4,319 participants from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, which was distributed from 2001 to 2003.

The surveys were designed to gauge participants’ attitudes and beliefs toward seeking mental health treatment. Participants were asked about their willingness to seek professional help for a serious emotional problem, how comfortable they were with the prospect of talking about their personal problems with a professional, and how embarrassed they would be if friends knew they were seeking professional help. They were also asked to estimate the percentage of people who are helped by seeing a professional, as well as the percentage of people who get better despite not seeking professional help.

A survey-to-survey comparison revealed that 41% of those who participated in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication would definitely seek professional help for a serious emotional problem, compared to 35% of those who answered the National Comorbidity Survey. Furthermore, the participants who responded to the most recent survey were also more comfortable talking about personal problems with a professional than were those who responded to the older survey (32% vs 27%), and they were less likely to be embarrassed if others found out about their seeking treatment (40% vs 33%).

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Despite the recent shift in attitude toward seeking mental health help, the public’s belief in the effectiveness of treatment changed very little and even declined in some areas. About 45% of the participants who responded to the most recent survey thought therapy was effective for about 50% to 74% of those who seek treatment, compared to 47% of those who answered the older survey.

In addition, about 48% of those who responded to the most recent survey believe that only zero to 24% of those who do not get professional help get better, compared to about 43% of those who answered the older survey.

AGE IS A FACTOR

Dr. Mojtabai found that between the two surveys, attitudes of younger participants improved more than the attitudes of middle-aged participants. However, he noted that gender, ethnicity, education level, income, psychopathology, and history of mental health treatment were not statistically significant.

The author concluded that “these changes in attitudes have likely contributed to the growing demand for mental health services in the US and will continue to do so in the coming years.”

—Tara Hayden

Suggested Reading
Mojtabai R. American’s attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking: 1990-2003. Psychiatr Serv. 2007;58(5):642-651.

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