Study shows stigma around mental health on campus correlates with students not seeking treatment

College students who experience suicidal thoughts are less likely to seek treatment if they go to school where there is a high level of stigma around mental health issues, a UCLA-led study found.In astudy published in Social Science and Medicine, UCLA sociology professor S. Michael Gaddis examined data from theHealthy Minds Study, an online survey conducted annually that examines mental health, service utilization and related issues among undergraduate and graduate students in the United States. Since its launch in 2007, the survey has been conducted at more than 150 colleges and universities, with more than 175,000 people responding.“We found that on college campuses where there is higher stigma toward mental health treatment, there is less treatment-seeking behavior among students” said Gaddis, whose team examined data from 2009–15, which included 62,756 students from 75 institutions.“We also found larger variation in levels of stigma across campuses than we expected,” he said.To establish levels of stigma, survey respondents answered questions on a sliding scale about whether they would accept someone as a friend, or think less of someone if they knew that person had been treated for a mental illness. Respondents also answered a battery of questions to determine if they had anxiety or depression and revealed whether they had suicidal thoughts or committed intentional self-harm.Students were less likely to admit to suicidal thoughts or harming themselves  if they...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news