The School of Health Sciences, Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, Zografou Community Mental Health Center, University of Athens, 42 Davaki-Pindou Street, 157 73, Athens, Greece.
Community Ment Health J. 2011 Oct;47(5):583-93. doi: 10.1007/s10597-011-9404-y. Epub 2011 May 6.
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of opinions towards seeking psychiatric help with the duration of untreated mental disorders in a sectorized Athens area, served by a Community Mental Health Centre. The sample consisted of 134 individuals who had sought help from health or mental health non sectorized services prior to their visit to the Centre (group A) and 156 individuals whose visit to the Center was their first ever contact with a mental health service (group B). Opinions were assessed by the "Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale. Both groups were selected from a total of 1,008 individuals who had visited the Centre in four consecutive years. The duration of untreated mental disorders was found to be shorter in group A compared to group B. Males and females of both groups, who had visited the Centre in a time period shorter than 12 months since the onset of their psychopathology, expressed more positive views towards help-seeking, compared to their counterparts with longer duration of untreated mental disorder. The variables of gender (females), age at symptom onset (younger) and education (higher) predicted a shorter duration without psychiatric treatment and more positive views about the necessity of help-seeking. More severe type of diagnoses was associated with shorter durations before accessing care. Our findings underline that mental health awareness programs are clearly required in order to strengthen the early recognition of the need for help- seeking. The development of liaison and outreach activities could also prevent prolonged delays in psychiatric treatment.
本研究旨在探讨在一个由社区心理健康中心服务的雅典分区化区域中，对寻求精神科帮助的看法与未治疗精神障碍持续时间之间的关系。样本由 134 名曾在前往中心之前向非分区化卫生或精神卫生服务寻求帮助的个体（A 组）和 156 名曾首次接触心理健康服务的个体（B 组）组成。意见通过“寻求专业心理帮助态度量表”进行评估。两组均从连续四年内访问过中心的 1008 名个体中选取。与 B 组相比，A 组未治疗精神障碍的持续时间较短。在精神病发病后 12 个月内访问中心的 A 组和 B 组的男性和女性，与未治疗精神障碍持续时间较长的个体相比，对寻求帮助的看法更为积极。性别（女性）、症状发作年龄（年轻）和教育（高）的变量预测了无精神科治疗的较短持续时间和对寻求帮助的必要性的更积极看法。更严重的诊断类型与获得护理前的较短持续时间相关。我们的发现强调，需要开展心理健康意识项目，以加强对寻求帮助必要性的早期认识。联络和外展活动的开展也可以防止精神科治疗的长时间延迟。
