Agencia Valenciana de Salud (Health Government of Valencia), Mental Health Outpatient Clinic, Department 04, Sants de la Pedra Ave., n. 81, 46500 Sagunto, Valencia, Spain.
Faculty of Psychology, Department of Personality Psychology, Research and Treatment Unit of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I'TOC, University of Valencia, Ave. Blasco Ibañez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
Psychiatry Res. 2017 Jul;253:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.03.024. Epub 2017 Mar 15.
Seeking treatment for mental-health problems is a complex process, with different underlying motives in each stage. However, the entire process and these motives have hardly been investigated. This study aims to analyze the different stages of the help-seeking process and their underlying motives in five groups of patients with different mental disorders. In all, 156 patients seeking treatment in outpatient mental health clinics were individually interviewed: 71 had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), 21 had Agoraphobia (AGO), 18 had Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), 20 had Anorexia Nervosa (AN), and 22 had Cocaine Dependence (COC). The AGO and MDD patients delayed significantly less time in recognizing their mental health symptoms. Moreover, MDD patients disclosed their symptoms and searched for professional help faster than the other groups. The most relevant variables in the recognition of disorders were the loss of control over the symptoms, the interference produced by these symptoms, and their negative impact on the person's emotional state. The most frequent barriers to seeking treatment were related to minimizing the symptoms and fear of stigma. Finally, the most important motivator for seeking treatment was the awareness that minimizing the symptoms did not help to reduce them, lessen their interference, or make them disappear.
寻求心理健康问题的治疗是一个复杂的过程，每个阶段都有不同的潜在动机。然而，整个过程和这些动机几乎没有被研究过。本研究旨在分析不同阶段的求医过程及其潜在动机，涉及五组不同精神障碍的患者。共有 156 名在门诊心理健康诊所接受治疗的患者接受了个体访谈：71 名强迫症（OCD）患者，21 名广场恐惧症（AGO）患者，18 名重度抑郁症（MDD）患者，20 名神经性厌食症（AN）患者和 22 名可卡因依赖（COC）患者。AGO 和 MDD 患者在认识到自己的心理健康症状方面明显延迟的时间更少。此外，MDD 患者比其他组更快地披露其症状并寻求专业帮助。识别障碍的最相关变量是对症状失去控制、这些症状产生的干扰以及它们对人的情绪状态的负面影响。寻求治疗的最常见障碍与最小化症状以及对耻辱感的恐惧有关。最后，寻求治疗的最重要动机是认识到最小化症状无助于减少症状、减轻其干扰或使其消失。
