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
. 2024 Aug;66(8):695-703.
doi: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_57_24. Epub 2024 Aug 19.

Role of culture and religious beliefs on non-medical help-seeking behavior among patients with chronic mental illnesses (CMIs) in Türkiye

Çiçek Ediz  1 , Sevda Uzun  2 , Masoud Mohammadnezhad  3 , Mehmed B Erdaş  4
Affiliations

Role of culture and religious beliefs on non-medical help-seeking behavior among patients with chronic mental illnesses (CMIs) in Türkiye

Çiçek Ediz et al. Indian J Psychiatry. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Cultural beliefs significantly shape societal attitudes toward mental illness, and these social attitudes profoundly impact help-seeking behaviors. Therefore, it is important to focus on understanding and addressing these social behaviors.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chronic mental illness interpretations based on culture and religious beliefs on non-medical help-seeking behaviors among patients in Türkiye.

Methods: The study was conducted from September to October 2023 using an inductive qualitative approach. In-depth face-to-face interviews were carried out with individuals diagnosed with chronic mental illness and their relatives, registered in a state-owned Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Türkiye. Using purposive sampling, 13 individuals who met the criteria were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes.

Results: Three main themes and eight sub-themes were identified, including the reasons for seeking non-medical help (psychological challenges, subjective norms, physical requirements), factors contributing to seeking non-medical help (predisposing factors, enabling factors, and myths), and reflections on the benefits of non-medical practices (perceived physical benefits, perceived psychological benefits).

Conclusions: It was concluded that individuals with chronic mental illness and their relatives living in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Türkiye engaged in non-medical help-seeking behaviors and mostly turned to traditional religious practices. Culture and religious beliefs emerged as primary factors leading patients to seek non-medical treatment approaches. Consequently, there is a perceived need to explore non-medical alternative methods across various mental health settings and with diverse samples in future research endeavors.

Keywords: Chronic mental illness; Türkiye; cultural belief; non-medical help-seeking behavior; religious belief.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Baysan Arabacı L, Büyükbayram A, Aktaş Y, Taşkın N. The effect of psychoeducation given to the caregivers of patients diagnosed with chronic mental disorder on their difficulties and psychosocial adjustment. J Psychiatry Nurs. 2018;9:175–85.
    1. World Health Organization . World Health Organization; 2022. World mental health report: Transforming mental health for all.
    1. Çiçekoğlu P, Duran S. Community-based preventive mental health services in the world and in Türkiye. In: Unsal Barlas G, editor. Community Mental Health Nursing. Ankara: Türkiye Clinics; 2018.
    1. Bademli K, Neslihan L. Help-seeking behaviours in chronic mental illnesses. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar. 2017;9:136–46.
    1. Sarıkoç G, Demiralp M, Özşahin A, Açıkel CH. Help seeking in mental illnesses: A study on the attitudes of patients’ relatives. Balıkesir Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi. 2012;4:32–8.

LinkOut - more resources