Help-Seeking Behavior

Definitions of Help Seeking

Research on help-seeking behavior offers numerous perspectives. First, help seeking can be viewed as a [Page 223]buffer, an act that keeps us from feeling the full negative effect of some stressful life event. Help seeking may be viewed as formal or informal. The use of institutions or professionals such as physicians or teachers to provide help and support represents formal help seeking. This formal system prescribes the mode of treatment, categorizes the cause for needing help, and monitors progress. The formal system also can dictate how to help those seeking assistance.

Help may also be sought from those who are not a part of common help-seeking professions (the informal system). Those in the informal network may be family, friends, or indigenous persons and systems. This informal system also prescribes ways for addressing the problems or needs of the help seeker. The informal system, however, often conceptualizes the problem differently than the formal system. Often, it is more acceptable to seek help from the informal system than the formal one. People may look down on those who seek help from mental health professionals, for example, yet find visiting a grandparent, aunt, “big mama,” or pastor or using a home remedy to be acceptable.

Influences on Help Seeking

Why do some people seek help and others do not? Again, studies can help us to understand the answer. Gender, prior help seeking, social support, and levels of distress all contribute to help-seeking behavior. Furthermore, researchers have reported that comfort with self-disclosure or revealing personal issues also influences help seeking. Often, these factors are categorized as approach factors or avoidance factors. For example, an approach factor might be a high level of distress (which may make someone seek help or move toward getting help), whereas an avoidance factor might be having a non-Western cultural belief system (which may dictate it is not right to discuss problems outside the family).

The drive to seek help is also connected with whether one is forced to seek help or chooses to do so oneself. Through studies, we have learned that almost half of the people who enter a mental health facility choose to do so, whereas 10% report some use of force and 34% report persuasion by others. Studies on elders or senior citizens suggest they are often influenced by many people to seek help. Not surprisingly, children are influenced by parents to seek help, and partners are reported to heavily influence men seeking help. Finally, culture has been studied to determine its impact on help seeking.

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