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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005) 186: 297-301
© 2005 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Help-seeking behaviour in men and women with common mental health problems: cross-sectional study

MARIA ISABEL OLIVER, MSc

HPA South West, Bond’s Mill, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire

NICKY PEARSON, FFPH

Dorset and Somerset Strategic Health Authority, Lynx West Trading Estate, Yeovil, Somerset

NICOLA COE, MSc

North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Hospital, Westbury on Trym, Bristol

DAVID GUNNELL, PhD

Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Correspondence: Dr Maria Isabel Oliver, HPA South West, The Wheelhouse, Bond’s Mill, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire GL10 3RE, UK.Tel. 01453 829740; e-mail: Isabel.oliver{at}hpa.org.uk

Declaration of interest None. This research was funded by Somerset Health Authority.

Background Many people with mental health problems do not seek professional help but their use of other sources of help is unclear.

Aims To investigate patterns of lay and professional help-seeking in men and women aged16–64 years in relation to severity of symptoms and socio-demographic variables.

Method Postal questionnaire survey, including the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–12), sent to a stratified random sample (n=15 222) of the population of Somerset.

Results The response rate was 76%. Only 28% of people with extremely high GHQ–12 scores (≥8) had sought help from their general practitioner but most (78%) had sought some form of help. Males, young people and people living in affluent areas were the least likely to seek help.

Conclusions Health promotion interventions to encourage appropriate help-seeking behaviour in young people, particularly in men, may lead to improvements in the mental health of this group of the population.




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