ATTITUDE TOWARDS MENTAL ILLNESS, SENSE OF COMMUNITY, SELFCOMPASSION AND HELP-SEEKING ATTITUDE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Background: Most studies that have explored sense of community (SOC), attitude towards mental illness (AMI), self-compassion (SC), and attitude towards seeking professional help (ATSPH), have studied them individually in one sample population only without taking into consideration the geographical variations.Method: The comparative study used the ex-post facto research design and the mixed-method explanatory sequential design to understand the effect of SOC and AMI on SC and ATSPH while comparing University students (n=124) from 2 Indian states Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Results: The data from Lucknow and Vadodara were compared, SOC had no signicant effect on SC and ATSPH, but AMI had a signicant effect on SC and ATSPH. The qualitative study exploring AMI in Lucknow sample from Media department (n=10) highlighted three themes- reactions, causes and cures. The sub-themes of 'reactions' were sympathy, shock, and agony. The sub-themes of 'causes' were environmental factors, emotional factors, adverse experiences, and biological factors. The sub-themes of 'cures' were environment, pleasurable activities, care, medications, love, sympathy, and togetherness.