A study to assess knowledge, attitude toward mental illness, and mental health help-seeking among the adult population in a selected district of Assam

Abstract

Background: Mental health problems are neither a new disorder nor a disease condition. However, it has been ignored or neglected since the older days. People with adequate knowledge and positive attitude toward mental illness only will lead to increase their intention of seeking help for it. Aim: To assess knowledge, attitude toward mental illness, and mental health help-seeking among the adult population in the selected district of Assam. Materials and Methods: A quantitative research approach with a descriptive research design was adopted. There were a total of 100 adult participants. The data were collected by using the Modified Version of the Knowledge of Mental Illness Questionnaire, Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill Scale, and Mental Help-Seeking Intention Scale (MHSIS). Results: The study revealed that participants have adequate knowledge of mental illness (17.92 ± 4.607) and have a positive attitude toward it which includes authoritarianism (31.54 ± 3.295), benevolence (BE 33.93 ± 3.307), social restrictiveness (SR 24.74 ± 4.550), and community mental health ideology (CMHI 34.34 ± 4.326) and also shows high intention to seek help for mental health problems (6.53 ± 1.436). There was a statistically significant association of knowledge with occupation (χ2 = 15.203,P= 0.001). It also showed a significant positive correlation between knowledge and BE domains (r = 0.242,P= 0.015) followed by a significant negative correlation between knowledge and SR domains (r= −0.345,P= 0.000) and a significant positive correlation between MHSIS score and CMHI domains (r = 0.207,P= 0.039) of attitude scale. Conclusion: The adults from the selected areas have an adequate knowledge on mental illness, positive attitude toward it and a high intention to seek help for mental health problems.