TY - JOUR
T1 - Seeking treatment for mental illness and substance abuse
T2 - A cross-sectional study on attitudes, beliefs, and needs of military personnel with and without mental illness
AU - Bogaers, Rebecca
AU - Geuze, Elbert
AU - Greenberg, Neil
AU - Leijten, Fenna
AU - Varis, Piia
AU - van Weeghel, Jaap
AU - van de Mheen, Dike
AU - Rozema, Andrea
AU - Brouwers, Evelien
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was mainly supported by the IMPACT PhD Program 2018 of Tilburg University (no grant number). Additionally, the work was partially supported by a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Defence (no grant number), but this grant did not influence the interpretation of the data; the writing of the paper; or the decision to submit the paper for publication. These funding sources were not involved in study design; analysis and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.
Funding Information:
We thank the people who participated in this study and shared their personal experiences with us, giving us insight into this important topic. Furthermore, we thank the providers of funding for this research, the IMPACT PhD Program 2018 of Tilburg University, and a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Defence. Finally, we thank the military research department, especially Jolanda Snijders, who helped with participant recruitment.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - BACKGROUND: Often, military personnel do not seek treatment for mental illness or wait until they reach a crisis point. Effective, selective, and indicated prevention is best achieved by seeking treatment early.AIMS: We aimed to examine military personnel's attitudes, beliefs, and needs around seeking treatment for mental illness. We compared those who sought treatment to those who did not and those with and without the intention to seek treatment. Finally, we examined factors associated with intentions of not seeking treatment.METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study of military personnel with (N = 324) and without (N = 554) mental illness. Descriptive and regression analyses (logistic and ordinal) were performed.RESULTS: The majority of the personnel believed treatment was effective (91.6%); however, most preferred to solve their own problems (66.0%). For personnel with mental illness, compared to those who sought treatment, those who did not had a higher preference for self-management and found advice from others less important. For those without mental illness, those with no intention to seek treatment indicated a higher preference for self-management, stigma-related concerns, denial of symptoms, lower belief in treatment effectiveness and found it less important to be an example, compared to those with treatment-seeking intentions. A clear indication of where to seek help was the most reported need (95.7%). Regression analyses indicated that not seeking treatment was most strongly related to preference for self-management (OR(95%CI) = 4.36(2.02-9.39); no intention to seek treatment was most strongly related to a lower belief that treatment is effective (OR(95%CI) = .41(0.28-0.59) and with not having had positive earlier experiences with treatment seeking (OR(95%CI) = .34(0.22-0.52).CONCLUSIONS: To facilitate (early) treatment seeking, interventions should align with a high preference for self-management, mental illness stigma should be targeted, and a clear indication of where to seek treatment is needed.
AB - BACKGROUND: Often, military personnel do not seek treatment for mental illness or wait until they reach a crisis point. Effective, selective, and indicated prevention is best achieved by seeking treatment early.AIMS: We aimed to examine military personnel's attitudes, beliefs, and needs around seeking treatment for mental illness. We compared those who sought treatment to those who did not and those with and without the intention to seek treatment. Finally, we examined factors associated with intentions of not seeking treatment.METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study of military personnel with (N = 324) and without (N = 554) mental illness. Descriptive and regression analyses (logistic and ordinal) were performed.RESULTS: The majority of the personnel believed treatment was effective (91.6%); however, most preferred to solve their own problems (66.0%). For personnel with mental illness, compared to those who sought treatment, those who did not had a higher preference for self-management and found advice from others less important. For those without mental illness, those with no intention to seek treatment indicated a higher preference for self-management, stigma-related concerns, denial of symptoms, lower belief in treatment effectiveness and found it less important to be an example, compared to those with treatment-seeking intentions. A clear indication of where to seek help was the most reported need (95.7%). Regression analyses indicated that not seeking treatment was most strongly related to preference for self-management (OR(95%CI) = 4.36(2.02-9.39); no intention to seek treatment was most strongly related to a lower belief that treatment is effective (OR(95%CI) = .41(0.28-0.59) and with not having had positive earlier experiences with treatment seeking (OR(95%CI) = .34(0.22-0.52).CONCLUSIONS: To facilitate (early) treatment seeking, interventions should align with a high preference for self-management, mental illness stigma should be targeted, and a clear indication of where to seek treatment is needed.
KW - Mental illness
KW - Military
KW - Stigma
KW - Substance abuse
KW - Treatment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123022972&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.01.028
DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.01.028
M3 - Article
C2 - 35065512
SN - 0022-3956
VL - 147
SP - 221
EP - 231
JO - Journal of Psychiatric Research
JF - Journal of Psychiatric Research
ER -