Where to seek help for a mental disorder? National survey of the beliefs of Australian youth and their parents

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the intentions that young people have for seeking help if they were to develop a mental disorder. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: National telephone survey of 3746 Australians aged 12-25 years and 2005 co-resident parents, which asked questions about vignettes portraying either depression, depression with alcohol misuse, social phobia or psychosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Where participating young people or co-resident parents would seek help if they (or their child) had one of the problems portrayed in the vignettes; barriers to seeking help. RESULTS: For adolescents, family was the main source of intended help, mentioned by 45%-60% (depending on the vignette), whil..