Perceptions of mental illness etiology and treatment in Saudi Arabian healthcare students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives:Cultural beliefs often affect people’s attitude toward mental illness and their help-seeking behavior. Belief in superstitious causes of mental illness can lead to seeking help from non-medical practitioners, which might hinder treatment. This study aimed to explore the perception of mental illness and help-seeking behavior among healthcare students.Methods:A cross-sectional study carried out on a sample of 400 randomly selected undergraduate health professional students in Riyadh. Data collection involved two self-administered questionnaires: the causes and treatment routes for a female vignette with psychosis and the General Health Questionnaire-28.Results:The mean age of participants was 20.9 years, and 68.2% were male. Although participants reported a lack of personal history of mental illness (81.9%), female participants were more likely to disclose psychological distress as measured by General Health Questionnaire-28 (67.6%). Mental illness (47.2%) was chosen as the main reason for the problem depicted by the female vignette. General Health Questionnaire-28 scores for “caseness” did not affect perception about psychosis versus non-caseness. Factor analysis produced four dimensions for causes of psychosis: “social,” “psychobiological,” “superstitious,” and “socially undesirable”; and two treatment routes: “clinical” versus “social interventions.” Male participants leaned toward social factors for the cause of psychosis and were more likely to endorse social interventions for treatment.Conclusion:Healthcare students in Riyadh remained supportive of a biomedical approach toward the causation and treatment of mental illness. The use of religious practices as an adjunct was apparent. Students, especially females, were prone to experience more psychological distress.

Parental Support, Beliefs about Mental Illness, and Mental Help-Seeking among Young Adults in Saudi Arabia

“…A similar finding was noted in a qualitative study done in Saudi Arabia that found that mental illnesses among Muslims were perceived as possession by supernatural forces or punishment from God [ 27 ]. Moreover, stigma or shame of mental illness is not an uncommon finding among the Saudi community [ 2 , 27 ].…”

“…People diagnosed with mental illness are often rejected by the community and considered a burden to their families; thus, they, and their relatives, often hide the disorder from others because they fear public disapproval. Various studies have found that most people isolate themselves from individuals with mental illness, considering them dangerous and incapable of friendship [ 1 , 2 ]. Negative attitudes toward mental illness promote public discrimination against and stigmatization of patients with mental disorders and may cause them to withdraw from social interactions, which is likely to aggravate their mental illness condition [ 3 ].…”

“…Religious, supernatural, and social beliefs can affect how people perceive causes of mental illness and how to deal with it. It was found that, in Saudi Arabia, people strongly believe in demonic possession and the evil eye, which may lead them to seek unprofessional help or help from religious healers before going to mental health specialists [ 2 ]. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the attitude toward seeking help from official psychological and psychiatric specialists among Saudi young adults.…”

Mental health literacy in Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council: A systematic review

“…The included studies involved 16,391 participants who were primarily adults from the community. In six studies, participants were healthcare professionals [ 12 , 19 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 37 ], and five studies were conducted among college students [ 16 , 23 , 25 , 28 , 31 , 36 ]. In general, females constituted more than half of all study participants.…”

Role of Culture Towards Community Perception About Mental Disorder

“…Fellmeth et al, 2015;Alahmed et al, 2018). Berbeda dengan penelitianPeltzer et al, (2016) menemukan bahwa penyedia yang sering berkonsultasi adalah dukun.…”