Helpfulness of interventions for mental disorders: beliefs of health professionals compared with the general public

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to compare the beliefs of health professionals about the potential helpfulness of various mental health interventions with those of the general public.

Method: Surveys were carried out in Australia of 872 general practitioners, 1128 psychiatrists, 454 clinical psychologists and 2031 members of the public. Respondents were presented with a case vignette describing either a person with depression or one with schizophrenia. Respondents were asked to rate the likely helpfulness of various types of professional and non-professional help and of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.

Results: The professionals gave much high ratings than the public to the helpfulness of antidepressants for depression, and of antipsychotics and admission to a psychiatric ward for schizophrenia. Conversely, the public tended to give much more favourable ratings to vitamins and minerals and special diets for both depression and schizophrenia, and to reading self-help books for schizophrenia.

Conclusion: The beliefs that health practitioners hold about mental disorders differ greatly from those of the general public. There is a need for mental health education campaigns to help close the gap between professional and public beliefs.