Mental Health Stigma and Veterinary Medical Students' Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help

Veterinary medical students may be at increased risk for a variety of mental health problems. However, research with student samples suggests that students in distress may not seek professional help, even when mental health services are available. The purpose of this study was to explore veterinary students' willingness to seek mental health services for several common presenting concerns, as well as their perceptions of their peers' willingness to seek help for the same concerns. We also sought to explore the roles of public stigma, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help in explaining students' willingness to seek services using a serial mediation analysis. Study participants were 573 veterinary medical students currently enrolled in accredited programs in the United States. Participants reported being most willing to seek mental health services for issues regarding substance abuse, traumatic experiences, and anxiety. They also tended to perceive other students were less willing to seek mental health services for most presenting issues than they actually were. As expected, self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help serially mediated the relationship between public stigma and willingness to seek mental health services. Public stigma was positively related to self-stigma, self-stigma was negatively related to attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and attitudes toward seeking help were positively related to willingness to seek mental health services. Implications for outreach, research, and education are discussed.