Help-seeking behaviour for psychiatric disorder from physicians or psychiatrists in Greece

A nationwide home survey on the identification of possible factors affecting help-seeking behaviour for psychiatric reasons and the prevalence of related psychosocial problems was carried out in a sample of 3754 adults in Greece. Of the total of 570 respondents who reported at the personal interview that they had a serious mental health problem, only 40.8% reported that they had attended a physician or a psychiatrist. A significant proportion of this population (42.5%) had sought the help of a physician. Multivariate analysis revealed two opposite groups of factors determining help-seeking behaviour. Respondents with a serious psychopathological profile (suicidal, depressive and a history of hospitalization) tended to be under psychiatric care. Respondents of lower socio-economic status expressing psychosomatic symptoms were usually the clientelle of physicians. The results are discussed in relation to the need for the development of strategies and techniques in reaching out to mentally ill patients by the appropriate specialists.