Help seeking behaviour of psychiatric patients before seeking care at a mental hospital

Background: A wide range of professionals including psychiatrists, psycholo gists, general physicians, faith-healers and religious healers cater to the needs of mentally ill patients. Psychiatric facilities are available at ge neral hospitals, office based practice and mental hospitals. Psychiatrists are preferred the least due to stigma. The present work reports on treatmen t options used by a group of psychiatric patients before visiting a mental hospital.. Aim: To study the help seeking behaviour of patients visiting a mental hosp ital. Method: Patients attending psychiatric outpatient service at a mental hospi tal were asked specifically about various treatment facilities utilized by them before coming to the hospital and the reasons thereof. Results: A wide range of services was used by the subjects varying from pro fessional care to faith healers. Trust, easy availability and accessibility , recommendations by the significant others and belief in supernatural caus ation of illness were the important reasons for choosing a particular facil ity. Thus sociocultural factors appeared to influence the help seeking beha viour. Conclusion: A substantial number of patients suffering from severe mental d isorders seek non-professional care. There is a need of studies in communit y to assess the help seeking behaviour of psychiatric patients and factors associated with it.