THE JECH GALLERY

Young adults’ reluctance to seek help and use medications for mental distress

Lucy Biddle¹, David Gunnell¹, Jenny Donovan¹, Debbie Sharp²

¹ Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
² Division of Primary Care, University of Bristol

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr L Biddle
Department Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol BS8 2PR, UK; Lucy.Biddle{at}bristol.ac.uk

Epidemiological data suggest young adults are a group least likely to seek help when suffering from mental disorder.¹ This is of public health concern in the context of high rates of suicide and deliberate self harm among this age group.² In a recent cross sectional survey of mental distress and help seeking in young adults aged 16–24 years,³ we found fewer than 10% of respondents with probable mental disorder⁴ had recently consulted a GP. The picture was drawn on a questionnaire returned as part of this survey by a young woman reporting severe symptoms and a suicide attempt. She described her experiences of seeking help as: "tried to speak to people, got passed around, got drugged", and was trying to self manage her symptoms, having withdrawn from medical services. In common with other respondents, her reluctance to seek help was in part motivated by a strong desire to avoid medication. Her picture was accompanied by the message: "For anyone whose job it is to help others, genuine heartfelt compassion, empathy, sympathy are needed along with the ability to not just hear but really listen....don’t just prescribe pills as if it were eenie, meenie, minee mo, which pill shall we give a go?" Such data contribute a lay perspective to debates about drug treatments for depression and the need to reduce their use in young people.⁵

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2. Department of Health. National suicide prevention strategy for England. London: Department of Health, 2002.
3. Biddle L, Gunnell D, Sharp D, et al. Factors influencing help-seeking in mentally distressed young adults: a cross-sectional survey. Br J Gen Pract 2004;54:248–53.[Medline]
4. Goldberg D, Williams P. A user’s guide to the general health questionnaire. Berkshire: NFER-Nelson, 1988.
5. Ramchandani P. Treatment of major depressive disorder in children and adolescents. BMJ 2004;328:3–4.[Free Full Text]

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