Public Stigma In Mental Health

“Have you seen a therapist yourself (Reidbord, 2011)? This was the question raised by a patient to his psychotherapist as reported in the The New York Times (Pope, 2011). Reidbord highlighted some patients may prefer a psychotherapist who has been in therapy, for these therapists would have a greater sense of empathy for their patients. However, others may see it as a personal fault. Those against this practice may find it ironic that a professional therapist, who is supposed to help those vulnerable to emotional distress are unable to manage their own impairment condition.
Many mental health professionals are managing their caseloads until it occupies so much of their time and attention (Landwehr, 2012). Studies have found that treating clients

However, there were contrary findings where there was no relationship between the role of perceived public stigma towards mental illness and seeking professional help (Brown et al., 2010; Golberstein, Eisenberg, Gollust, 2008; Komiti, Judd, & Jackson, 2006; Rüsch et al., 2009). In addition, it is expected that individuals would hide their psychological distress and avoid from seeking help to protect themselves from being stigmatized (Angermeyer & Dietrich, 2006; Cook, Purdie-Vaughns, Meyer, & Busch, 2014; Corrigan & Matthews, 2003; Loya, Reddy, & Hinshaw, 2010). Although, there are studies support public stigma towards mental illness as a barrier to help-seeking, however, lack of research with similar findings are found for perceived public stigma. Therefore, it may be deduced that the perceived public stigma in relation to mental illness and help-seeking could act as a barrier for mental health professionals to seek psychological

Gender is considered as one of the most solid predictors of help-seeking attitudes. Past studies found gender to be a significant predictor of help-seeking attitudes, with women consistently reported being more positive attitudes toward help-seeking attitudes across studies (Aegisdottir & Gerstein, 2009; Mackenzie, Gekoski, & Knox, 2006; Nam et al.’s; 2010). Based on Nam et al. (2010) and Nam et al. (2013), college-age females had more favorable attitudes about seeking psychological help than males. It was determined that females hold more positive attitudes about help-seeking while men hold more negative as they perceive greater stigma. As a result, men may perceive that there is public stigma towards help-seeking which labels them as unable to manage problems. However, other studies have found that there were no significant differences between men and women in seeking psychological help (Atkinson, D.R., Lowe, S. & Matthews, L., 1995; Furnham, A. & Andrew, R., 1996). Gender is considered one of the most solid predictors of help-seeking attitudes. Past studies found gender to be a significant predictor of help-seeking attitudes, with women consistently reported being more positive attitudes toward help-seeking attitudes across studies (Aegisdottir & Gerstein, 2009; Mackenzie, Gekoski, &