Religiosity and help-seeking in a rural and an urban area

Help-seeking for emotional problems addressed to priests was compared with help-seeking addressed to general practitioners (GPs), psychiatrists and psychologists in two demographically different areas of Norway. Only small differences were found between the rural and the urban area, and a substantial proportion of people contacted priests for personal/emotional problems. This contact was not related to dissatisfaction with the mental health system, and we found no evidence for a "religiosity gap" between mental health professionals, on the one hand, and people contacting priests, on the other. People contacting priests also had a stronger general willingness to seek help from other professionals compared to the general population. In both the rural and urban areas, seeking help from priests because of mental problems was related to having experienced a personal loss (death of a spouse, separation, divorce), in addition to having a religious commitment.