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Seeking Psychiatric Attention Among University Students with Mental Health Problems: the Influence of Disease Perception

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Abstract

In addition to many other consequences, in university students, the deterioration in academic performance and the potential development of risky behaviours (including suicide and addictions) are related to untreated mental illness. Unfortunately, compared with the general population, this group seeks less attention in mental health. This study sought to analyse the components of the Model of Beliefs in Health and its relationship with the search for specialised care in a group of university students with mental health problems. This research was a qualitative study in which focused interviews were conducted with twenty-four university students. Among participants, mental illness was defined as a severe condition that they did not identify in themselves. Perceptions of mental illness were important in seeking attention; however, it was not enough for participants to have a theoretical knowledge of psychopathology. Added to theory, they needed be able to contextualise and personalise those skills to ensure the maintenance of treatments.

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Data Availability

This study is based on qualitative research. Interview material, voice recordings, transcriptions, and any raw data generated or analysed during this study are available upon request.

Notes

  1. A census week is a technique used in social, epidemiological, and marketing studies in which an investigation is carried out during a period of 1 week in which there are no events such as holidays or vacations, which allows the estimation of the occurrence and characteristics of a phenomenon of interest in a particular service or population, since the results are considered to reflect what happened the rest of the time in that scenario (Stolzenberg 1975).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants of this study who gave them their time and trust for the realisation of this research, as well as Dr. Benjamín Guerrero and the student Raul Arteaga for their valuable contributions, comments, and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Ingrid Vargas-Huicochea, Asunción Álvarez-del-Río & Ana Carolina Rodríguez-Machain

  2. Oficina 6 de la Coordinación de Investigación del Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Edificio F de la Facultad de Medicina de la UNAM, Circuito interior y Cerro del Agua s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Colonia Copilco Universidad, Coyoacán, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico

    Ingrid Vargas-Huicochea

  3. Departamento de Embriología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Elsa Liliana Aguirre-Benítez

  4. Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City, NY, USA

    Nora Kelsall

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  1. Ingrid Vargas-Huicochea
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  2. Asunción Álvarez-del-Río
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Correspondence to Ingrid Vargas-Huicochea.

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Vargas-Huicochea, I., Álvarez-del-Río, A., Rodríguez-Machain, A.C. et al. Seeking Psychiatric Attention Among University Students with Mental Health Problems: the Influence of Disease Perception. Int J Ment Health Addiction 20, 505–521 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00380-3

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