Mental health attitudes and practices of Soviet immigrants

A survey of mental health knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking practices was conducted with 415 Soviet immigrants to Israel. The purpose of the study was two-fold: to provide data for mental health services and outreach programs designed for this immigrant group and to obtain a "proxy window" into these attitudes and behaviors in the Soviet Union itself. The results show that almost 20% of the immigrants reported consultation to formal agents in Israel and about half of these reported similar consultation in the USSR. An almost equal proportion consulted the family. Univariate and multivariate analysis show that demoralization, marital status, and religiosity were significantly associated with help-seeking. The second part of the survey explored Soviet immigrant attitudes to mental illness and the mentally ill by means of case vignettes and social situations, respectively. The respondents were able to detect abnormal behavior, but did not label it as psychopathology. Their overall tolerance of such behavior was low. These attitudes did not change over time nor seem to be influenced by reported abuses of psychiatry in the USSR.