Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 1;35(3):207-218.
doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000788. Epub 2022 Feb 23.

The impact of digital interventions on help-seeking behaviour for mental health problems: a systematic literature review

Sara Evans-Lacko  1 , Jane Sungmin Hahn  2 , Lina-Jolien Peter  3 , Georg Schomerus  4
Affiliations

The impact of digital interventions on help-seeking behaviour for mental health problems: a systematic literature review

Sara Evans-Lacko et al. Curr Opin Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Interventions that facilitate help-seeking could help individuals to get care earlier on which could also help avert some mental health crises. Delivering interventions via a digital format could mitigate some key barriers to mental healthcare. We reviewed the literature for digital interventions which facilitate formal or informal help-seeking for mental health problems. We examined the impact of identified interventions on actual and intended help-seeking and attitudes towards help-seeking.

Recent findings: We identified 35 interventions. About half (51%) of studies showed an improvement in at least one help-seeking outcome with the greatest number showing an improvement in help-seeking intentions and the fewest studies showing an improvement in actual behaviour (29%). Findings suggest that interventions that promote active participation and personal involvement through sharing one's own narrative seem to be promising practices to facilitate help-seeking.

Summary: Our findings suggest digital interventions can improve help-seeking for mental health problems among a range of populations. Given speciality mental health resources are scarce, further research needs to consider how these interventions could best target the most vulnerable groups to link them with mental healthcare and how these interventions might facilitate earlier intervention in a way that might reduce need for crisis care and support.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alonso J, Liu Z, Evans-Lacko S, et al. Treatment gap for anxiety disorders is global: results of the World Mental Health Surveys in 21 countries. Depress Anxiety 2018; 35:195–208.
    1. Degenhardt L, Glantz M, Evans-Lacko S, et al. Estimating treatment coverage for people with substance use disorders: an analysis of data from the World Mental Health Surveys. World Psychiatry 2017; 16:299–307.
    1. Thornicroft G, Chatterji S, Evans-Lacko S, et al. Undertreatment of people with major depressive disorder in 21 countries. Br J Psychiatry 2017; 210:119–124.
    1. Vogel DL, Wade NG. The Cambridge Handbook of Stigma and Mental Health. 1st edn.New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2022.
    1. Clement S, Schauman O, Graham T, et al. What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychol Med 2015; 45:11–27.

Publication types