Mental Help-Seeking Barriers Among Young Adults in Tertiary Education in Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: The High prevalence of depression among young adults calls for prevention strategies aiming to reduce the risk of burden associated with it. One of those is by increasing the utilisation of mental health services served by professional providers. But recent trends showed the professional mental health service is still underutilised, especially among young adults with depression symptoms. Identifying barriers to young adults seeking help from mental health professionals will enable the government under the Ministry of Health to plan high-impact interventions and policies that focus on increasing the utilisation of mental health professional services among young adults in Malaysia. Thus, this study aims to explore the professional mental help-seeking behaviour among young adults with depression symptoms seeking help in a public university in Malaysia. Methodology: A qualitative study using in-depth interviews was conducted to identify the perceived barriers that young adults face when seeking help from professional mental health services for their emotional problems. A semi-structured interview protocol guides this interview. A total of 11 participants were recruited and met the inclusion criteria, which included a depression symptom score of 10 or above on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-10) and having never received help from a professional mental health service within the year preceding this study. This online interview was conducted through the Google Meet platform. The interview transcript was then analysed using reflective thematic analysis to gain the theme from the data. Result: The result from thematic analysis revealed five themes related to barriers for professional mental help, which are (1) expression problem; (2) attitude; (3) fear; (4) presence of alternative support; (5) mental health literacy (MHL); and (6) instrumental barrier. Conclusion: This study identifies the role of social stigma, self-awareness, and availability of support in explaining the perceived barrier by young adults to getting help from mental health professionals for their mental health concerns. Furthermore, this study suggests the tailored intervention should be focused on reducing social stigma toward mental health professionals, increasing young adults' self-awareness of depression, and providing extensive social support for young adults to get help from mental health professionals. Limitation: The study findings may not be representative of the general young adult population, as this study only recruited participants from a tertiary education centre.