scholarly journals Knowledge and Attitude of Pharmacy Students toward People with Mental Illnesses and Help-Seeking: A Cross-Sectional Study from Saudi Arabia

Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Saud Alsahali

People with mental illnesses (MIs) face several challenges in addition to their disease. People’s negative views of those with MIs impact patients’ decisions to seek professional help. The aims of this study were to assess pharmacy students’ attitudes toward people with MIs and seeking help for mental health, as well as their knowledge about the causes of MIs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on pharmacy students at Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Out of the 460 distributed questionnaires, 330 complete questionnaires were received, giving a response rate of 71.7%. Overall, the mean total score for attitude towards people with MIs was 60.16 ± 10.48 (maximum attainable score: 105). In this study, 51.12% believed that people with MIs are more likely to harm others than a person without MIs and 66.9% mentioned that they did not trust the work of a mentally ill person as part of their work team. However, only 35.45% believed that it is difficult for mentally ill individuals to follow social rules. In terms of attitudes toward help-seeking, the mean total score of was 12.83 ± 3.16 out of the maximum score of 25. In addition, the mean total score for knowledge about causes of mental illness was 2.92 ± 1.76 out of the maximum score of 8. The participants reported that MIs could be due to genetic inheritance (56%), substance abuse (54.5%), or brain disease (66.1%). The findings showed that there are some negative attitudes toward people with MIs and negative attitudes towards seeking help for mental health. In addition, some misconceptions about the causes of MIs are prevalent. Consequently, the incorporation of more topics concerning mental health in pharmacy curricula could help improve the awareness of and knowledge about mental health.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salima Farooq ◽  
Yasmin Parpio ◽  
Saadia Sattar ◽  
Zahra Ali ◽  
Shirin Rahim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Globally, the prevalence of mental illness amongst university students is a major concern; same is the case with nursing students. Unaddressed mental illness stigma contributes towards hiding of symptoms hampers timely identification of the disease, and leads to reluctance in attitude towards seeking help. This study determined personal and perceived depression stigma and attitude towards help-seeking behaviors and its associated factors, among undergraduate nursing students at a private nursing institution in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study by recruiting 246 first and second-Year undergraduate nursing students using consecutive sampling. Data were collected using the Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) and the Attitude toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS), along with a demographic questionnaire. Chi-square test, Fischer’s exact test and student T test were used to determine significance of difference of each response between first and second year students. Multiple linear regression was employed to determine predictors of DSS and ATSPPHS. Approval was obtained from the university’s Ethics Review Committee. Results The study findings revealed that the mean scores of the personal and perceived stigma scales were 29.7 ± 4.9 and 24.3 ± 6.1, respectively. The mean score of ATSPPHS was 16.5 ± 3.8. The participants reported a mean openness score of7.8 ± 2.6 and a value scale score of 8.7 ± 3.0. A history of psychiatric illness, current living arrangements, and personal depression stigma were found to be significant predictors of ATSPHHS. The year of study was a significant predictor of personal depression stigma whereas both years of study and the current living arrangements were significantly associated with perceived depression stigma. Conclusion Attitude towards seeking help for mental illness was significantly influenced by personal and perceived stigma. Moreover, previous history of psychiatric illness and living arrangements also predicted attitudes towards seeking help. In order to encourage positive attitudes towards seeking help for students’ well-being, it is essential to destigmatize mental health issues by adapting context-based, individualized, and group mental health interventions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowaida Elyamani ◽  
Hamed Hammoud

Background: The concept of Mental Health Literacy (MHL) relies on our capacity to understand and recognize mental illnesses and the ability to maintain and promote a positive mentality for ourselves and others. In our review, we aim to examine the level of MHL among healthcare providers in the Arab Gulf States.Methods: PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline were searched till August 2019. Studies were included if at least one of the main components of mental health literacy was reported, including (a) knowledge of mental illnesses, (b) stigma towards mental illnesses, (c) confidence in helping patients, and (d) behavior of helping patients, regardless of study design. The risk of bias was rated according to the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cross-sectional studies.Results: Seven studies were included in the review; all of them were cross-sectional, with a total of 3516 participants from the healthcare system. Overall most of the studies claimed limited knowledge, negative attitudes, behavior and/or confidence among nurses, pharmacists, and physicians, especially juniors. However, the overall quality of all outcomes was relatively very low.Conclusions: More high-quality evidence and in-depth qualitative studies are required to bridge the gap between mental health needs and services delivered by healthcare providers in the Gulf Arab region.Keywords: Mental disorders, health literacy, healthcare workers, stigma, attitude, knowledge


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
shegaye shumet ◽  
Tilahun Kassew ◽  
Telake Azale ◽  
Getinet Ayano ◽  
Dessie Abebaw ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Depression is the leading cause of disability at a population level and globally 350 million people are suffering from depression. Many people suffer from depression use different sources of help for their mental health problems. People with different mental health problems seek help from formal and/or informal sources. This gives crucial information on community,s beliefs and perception regarding their preference for help if they faced depression. This study helps to guide effective planning and provision of mental health services and health policy of the country to explore the community,s preferences of help-seeking. Objective: The aim of this community based cross-sectional study was to contrast patterns of formal and informal help-seeking preferences for depression among residents of Aykel town, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: This cross-sectional population based study included 832 participants. We used a major depressive disorder case vignette and general help-seeking questionnaire (GHSQ) to assess the preferences to seek help. Study participants were selected by multistage cluster sampling technique. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. An independent- sample t- test and analysis of variance test (ANOVA) was performed to determine mean score difference in socio-demographic characteristics of the participants for informal sources of help.Results: A total of 656 subjects (78.8%) showed high propensity to intimate partner, and 655 (78.7%) of the study subjects had high propensity to mental health professional. The mean score of the residents’ preference to seek help from informal sources was 3.41±0.60.The mean score of preference to seek help from formal sources was 3.18±0.75. A total of 276 (33.2%) subjects showed high propensity to both informal and formal sources of help. The result also showed that there was mean score difference in preferences to informal help between subjects with strong social support and low and/ moderate social support (P<0.001).Conclusion: The result suggests that the majority of the residents had a higher preference to seek help from informal sources compared to formal sources of care. Mean score difference was observed in degree of social support and occupational status(student,housewife and jobless) for informal sources of help. Providing and strengthening both formal and informal sources of help in conjunction is crucial to get a more qualified and effective care of depressed patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyasu H. Tesfamariam ◽  
Medhane M. Tekie ◽  
Amos Y. Tesfa ◽  
Dawit H. Hadgu ◽  
Eyob A. Awalom ◽  
...  

Secondary School students (SSs) are important members of the community; hence their attitude towards mental illness can be highly influential. Mentally ill individuals are not only suffering from the illness but also suffering from the stigmatizing attitude generated by the community. The objectives of this study were to determine attitude of SSs towards mental illness and its associated factors. A cross-sectional study design employing stratified random sampling was applied to select a sample of 402 students. Data was obtained using a self-administered Belief towards Mental Illness (BMI) questionnaire. Independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to determine possible differences in scores of attitude. From a total of 21 BMI scale items, positive attitudes were found in eight items and negative attitudes were found in the remaining thirteen. The mean score of the full BMI scale was 2.47 (95% CI: 2.41, 2.54). The mean (95% CI) scores of dangerousness, poor social relations and incurability, and shame subscales were 2.68 (2.60, 2.76), 2.55 (2.48, 2.62), and 1.22 (1.09, 1.34), respectively. A significant negative correlation was found between attitude scores and the average mark of students (r = -0.257, p<0.0001). Moreover, significant differences in attitude scores were observed between students with a relative of mental illness and those without such a relative (p=0.004). There was an increasing trend of positive attitudes with increased educational level among 9th, 10th, and 11th graders (p-trend<0.0001) and with an increase in the educational level of the students father (p-trend=0.028). However, no significant difference in attitude score was found across categories of sex, religion, living condition of father, presence of a mentally ill neighbor, educational level of mother, or ethnicity. In conclusion, considerable numbers of SSs have negative attitudes towards mental illness. Implementation of programs that enhance positive attitudes towards mentally ill individuals is recommended.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e016432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirlene Pang ◽  
Jianlin Liu ◽  
Mithila Mahesh ◽  
Boon Yiang Chua ◽  
Shazana Shahwan ◽  
...  

ObjectivesStigma against mental illnesses is one of the significant obstacles faced by mental health service users and providers. It can develop at a young age and is also influenced by culture. Youths in Southeast Asian countries are under-represented in mental health research, thus this study aims to explore the dimensions of stigma and social tolerance and examine its correlates in the younger, multiethnic population of Singapore.DesignAn online survey collected data with sociodemographic questions, the Attitudes Towards Serious Mental Illness (Adolescent version) Scale, Social Tolerance Scale and an open-text question on words or phrases participants associated with the term ‘mental illness’. Principal component analysis and multiple regression models were conducted to investigate the factor structure of the attitudes and social tolerance scales and their sociodemographic correlates.ParticipantsParticipants included 940 youths aged 14–18 years old who were residing in Singapore at the time of the survey and were recruited through local schools.ResultsAbout a quarter of the students (22.6%) reported participating in mental health awareness campaigns while nearly half (44.5%) associated pejorative words and phrases with the term mental illness. The Attitudes Towards Serious Mental Illness (Adolescent version) Scale yielded five factors while the Social Tolerance Scale yielded two. Ethnicity, gender and nationality were significantly correlated with factors of both scales. Chinese youths showed higher sense of ’physical threat' and lower ’social tolerance' than those of other ethnicities. Females showed more ’wishful thinking', ’social concern' and ’social responsibility' towards the mentally ill than males.ConclusionsThe dimensions of stigma and social tolerance are different in Asian cultures compared with Western cultures. Sociodemographic differences in attitudes towards the mentally ill were found among youths living in Singapore. Misconceptions and negative attitudes towards mental illness are common, demonstrating a clear need for effective stigma reduction campaigns.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 217-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashir Aazh ◽  
Basant K. Puri ◽  
Brian C. J. Moore

AbstractMany patients seeking help for tinnitus also suffer from insomnia. Adverse childhood experiences may affect the likelihood of insomnia in later life for such patients.To explore whether parental separation and parental mental health during childhood are related to the severity of insomnia among patients with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis seen in an Audiology clinic.This was a retrospective cross-sectional study.One hundred seventy-four consecutive patients who attended a tinnitus/hyperacusis clinic in the United Kingdom were included.Data were based on responses to questionnaires for people seeking help for tinnitus.Sixteen percent of patients (27/174) reported that during the first 18 years of life, their parents were separated or divorced and 41% (72/174) reported that their parent(s) suffered from a mental illness. The mean score for the insomnia severity index (ISI) was not significantly affected by parental separation or divorce. However, the mean ISI score was significantly worse for patients whose parents had a mental illness. A multinomial logistic regression model, adjusted for the presence of hyperacusis, hearing loss, age, and gender, indicated that for individuals experiencing tinnitus, a history of parental mental illness during their childhood increased the chance of severe insomnia by a factor of 3.4 (95% confidence interval: 1.1 to 10.8, p = 0.04). The risk of having severe insomnia was 3.8 times greater for patients with hyperacusis than for those without.Among patients seeking help for tinnitus/hyperacusis, poor parental mental health was associated with severe insomnia.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
I Adeosun ◽  
A Adegbohun ◽  
T Peters ◽  
O Jeje ◽  
A Bello ◽  
...  

Objective: In spite of a wide range of effective treatment options, a huge treatment gap persists for depression among adolescents especially in low and middle-income countries. The barriers to help seeking for depression among Nigerian adolescents are currently under-researched. Identifying these barriers is critical to the design of interventions towards better utilisation of mental health services. This study assessed the barriers to help-seeking for depression among adolescent secondary school students in Lagos Nigeria. Method: Using a cross-sectional study design, 156 adolescent students attending a public co-educational secondary school in Lagos, south-West Nigeria completed a vignette-based questionnaire which assessed barriers to help-seeking for depression. The vignette depicted an adolescent with depression according to the DSM-1V criteria. Result: The mean age of the participants was 15.9 (± 1.1) years and 49% were males. The most commonly perceived barrier to help-seeking for depression was stigma (50.6%). Other barriers reported included disapproval by families/friends (21.2%), illness-related factors (7.7%), negative attitudes to treatment (7.1%), financial constraint (5.1%), ignorance (3.9%) and preference for spiritual treatment (3.9%). Conclusion: Stigma, ignorance, misperceptions and negative attitudes to treatment are major barriers to help-seeking for depression among adolescents. Destigmatisation and mental health literacy interventions are crucial steps towards facilitating help-seeking among adolescents with depression.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 2-6
Author(s):  
S Subedi ◽  
TK Aich ◽  
S Shah ◽  
DK Thapa

INTRODUCTION: Mental Health has been hidden behind the curtain of stigma and discrimination for a long time. Not only the mentally ill, even the mental health professionals are stigmatized. The medical professional's attitude to psychiatry appear to be negative, although the data are dated. Attitude of non-psychiatry consultants towards psychiatry may affect their ability to promote psychiatry as a discipline. The main aim of this study is to study the non-psychiatry consultants' attitude towards psychiatry. METHODS: It is a hospital based cross-sectional descriptive study of 30 non-psychiatry consultants working in Universal College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Bhairahawa, Nepal. ATP-30 self report questionnaire was used to collect the data. RESULTS: Majority of the subjects were male. About 69% of the consultants didn't have any exposure in the psychiatry. However, majority of the consultants had positive attitude towards psychiatry. The mean score for ATP-30 was 110.03. CONCLUSION: Majority of the consultants had positive attitude towards psychiatry. However some erroneous beliefs are still prevalent among the consultants. The attitude of non-psychiatry consultants directly/indirectly affects the development of psychiatry as a discipline. Further studies of such kind can help to determine whether changes in attitudes towards psychiatry are needed among the non-psychiatry consultants. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jucms.v1i4.9563 Journal of Universal College of Medical Sciences (2013) Vol.1 No.04: 2-6


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. e018099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherilyn Chang ◽  
Hui Lin Ong ◽  
Esmond Seow ◽  
Boon Yiang Chua ◽  
Edimansyah Abdin ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo assess stigma towards people with mental illness among Singapore medical and nursing students using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC), and to examine the relationship of students’ stigmatising attitudes with sociodemographic and education factors.Design and settingCross-sectional study conducted in SingaporeParticipantsThe study was conducted among 1002 healthcare (502 medical and 500 nursing) students during April to September 2016. Students had to be Singapore citizens or permanent residents and enrolled in public educational institutions to be included in the study. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 21.3 (3.3) years, with the majority being females (71.1%). 75.2% of the participants were Chinese, 14.1% were Malays, and 10.7% were either Indians or of other ethnicity.MethodsFactor analysis was conducted to validate the OMS-HC scale in the study sample and to examine its factor structure. Descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression were used to examine sociodemographic and education correlates.ResultsFactor analysis revealed a three-factor structure with 14 items. The factors were labelled as attitudes towards help-seeking and people with mental illness, social distance and disclosure. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that medical students were found to be associated with lower total OMS-HC scores (P<0.05), less negative attitudes (P<0.001) and greater disclosure (P<0.05) than nursing students. Students who had a monthly household income of below S$4000 had more unfavourable attitudes than those with an income of SGD$10 000 and above (P<0.05). Having attended clinical placement was associated with more negative attitudes (P<0.05) among the students.ConclusionHealthcare students generally possessed positive attitudes towards help-seeking and persons with mental illness, though they preferred not to disclose their own mental health condition. Academic curriculum may need to enhance the component of mental health training, particularly on reducing stigma in certain groups of students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 215013272097227
Author(s):  
Rowaida Elyamani ◽  
Hamed Hammoud

Background: The concept of Mental Health Literacy (MHL) relies on our capacity to understand and recognize mental illnesses and the ability to maintain and promote a positive mentality for ourselves and others. In our review, we aim to examine the level of MHL among healthcare providers in the Arab Gulf States. Methods: PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline were searched till August 2019. Studies were included if at least one of the main components of mental health literacy was reported, including (a) knowledge of mental illnesses, (b) stigma toward mental illnesses, (c) confidence in helping patients, and (d) behavior of helping patients, regardless of study design. The risk of bias was rated according to the modified Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cross-sectional studies. Results: Seven studies were included in the review; all of them were cross-sectional, with a total of 3516 participants from the healthcare system. Overall most of the studies claimed limited knowledge, negative attitudes, behavior and/or confidence among nurses, pharmacists, and physicians, especially juniors. However, the overall quality of all outcomes was relatively very low. Conclusion: More high-quality evidence and in-depth qualitative studies are required to bridge the gap between mental health needs and services delivered by healthcare providers in the Gulf Arab region.


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