Estudio Cualitativo de la Experiencia de Búsqueda de Ayuda en Pacientes de Salud Mental

Humanity has identified various resources to treat their emotional anguish. These resources originate from the family system, mental and physical health providers, and religious/spiritual services that are continuously interacting through culture. Although help providers recognize the impact of other resources on their interventions, they are unclear on how to incorporate other help resources in their practice. Ten mental health patients’ narratives were compiled through in-depth interviews. The aim was to explore the help resources sought, their experience with helpful resources, the reasons to choose them, and their meaning. People reported that the initial help resource they sought was a person they considered a family member and later conventional or folkloric resources. The three help resources demonstrated beneficial and iatrogenic results. In some instances, the help resource used interventions practiced by other resources or had a dual role. The primary reasons to choose a help resource were proximity, referral, and healthcare. Participants recognize the need for these three help resources, simultaneously or sequentially, to attain their wellbeing because the treatment becomes holistic through different perspectives that are consonant to their beliefs.