Chinese University Students’ Perspectives on Help-Seeking and Mental Health Counseling

Abstract

Psychological distress and mental illness have become increasingly pervasive among Chinese university students. However, many university students who need mental health treatment or psychological support do not actively seek help from professional counselors or service providers, which could lead to poor mental health outcomes. To promote help-seeking, we undertook a qualitative study to understand Chinese university students’ perspectives on help-seeking and mental health counseling. We conducted 13 focus group interviews with students in six universities in Jinan, China, and altogether 91 (62%) female students, and 56 (38%) male students participated in the study. Our results indicate that students’ misconception and distrust of on-campus counseling, stigma of mental illness, low mental health literacy, and hard-to-access mental health services are the major barriers that impede students help-seeking behaviors. Internal struggles and systematic and organizational barriers are identified to shed light on future work to promote mental health literacy among Chinese university students.

Psychological Counseling among University Students Worldwide: A Systematic Review

“…As mentioned in the inclusion and exclusion criteria, articles addressing exclusively mental health among university students were excluded due to the enormous number of papers involved and the lack of focus on counseling, the main topic of this systematic review. Consequently, the retained articles included measures of mental health and psychological symptoms but mainly focused on attitudes and concerns toward counseling, counselors, help provider sources, and help-seeking behaviors [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], expected activities and perceived needs [ 38 ], barriers and demographic predictors to receive professional mental health care [ 39 ]. Demographic characteristics of students and counselors such as gender or ethnicity, as well as acculturation, confidence and openness to mental health and counseling, and family history of mental illness constituted the principal barriers to help-seeking behaviors [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ].…”

“…Consequently, the retained articles included measures of mental health and psychological symptoms but mainly focused on attitudes and concerns toward counseling, counselors, help provider sources, and help-seeking behaviors [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], expected activities and perceived needs [ 38 ], barriers and demographic predictors to receive professional mental health care [ 39 ]. Demographic characteristics of students and counselors such as gender or ethnicity, as well as acculturation, confidence and openness to mental health and counseling, and family history of mental illness constituted the principal barriers to help-seeking behaviors [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. A study including 1135 undergraduate university students from Ethiopia [ 39 ] found that the top five barriers to receiving professional mental health care among students were (a) thinking the problem would get better by itself, (b) being unsure where to go to get professional help, (c) wanting to solve the problem on their own, (d) denying a mental health problem, and (e) preferring to get alternative forms of mental care.…”

Mental Health Disturber: Heteronormativity and LGBTQ+ Students in Mainland China

“…Another reason was misconceptions of counseling and stigma of mental illness [71]. When being asked why haven't try school counseling, a student responded that he believed counseling "was only for people who experienced extreme traumatic event like car crush or relatives passing away", while another student directly stated "because I don't have mental illness".…”

The effects of stigma and discrimination on help‐seeking behaviour and the role of police contact

“…The authors delineate three core components: stereotype, prejudice and discrimination and show how these experiences can lead to people shut themselves off and “ not pursu[e] life opportunities for themselves ” (p. 16). Indeed, internationally, stigma and discrimination have consistently been recognised as significant barriers to help‐seeking (Byrow et al, 2019; Martinez et al, 2020; Ning et al, 2022; Salaheddin & Mason, 2016). In an attempt to address these identified barriers, a series of government‐ and nongovernment‐funded anti‐stigma initiatives have been developed and rolled out in multiple countries, including Australia and the UK (Beyondblue, 2015; Henderson & Thornicroft, 2009; SANE, 2022).…”