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Help-seeking Behaviors of Chinese Patients with Schizophrenia Admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the help-seeking behaviors and related factors of Chinese psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia.

Method

Two hundred and two patients with schizophrenia (ICD-10) were enrolled in this study. A locally-developed, semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data, including data on illness and help-seeking histories from patients, informants, and medical records.

Results

Among 202 inpatients, 120 patients (59.4%) had sought help from at least one type of non-psychiatric facility (NPF), and 82 patients (40.6%) went to a psychiatric hospital directly. Among the NPFs they contacted, 66 patients (32.7%) tried traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from licensed practitioners (including acupuncturists), 64 (31.7%) chose general hospitals (including 9 who went to emergency departments), and 52 (25.7%) sought help from qigong (breathing exercise) masters or other folk healing methods. The reasons for seeking treatment from NPFs varied; the most common ones included feeling shameful or stigmatized about going to psychiatric hospitals, inaccessibility to or unavailability of psychiatric hospitals, and fear of being incarcerated or receiving electric shock treatment.

Conclusion

A substantial proportion of psychiatric inpatients in China seek help from non-psychiatric facilities and/or folk healing methods. Feeling shameful or stigmatized, inaccessibility to and/or unavailability of psychiatric services are among the most common barriers to seeking psychiatric treatment. Patients who sought psychiatric help directly are likely to be female, with a chronic onset of illness, a mixed syndrome of positive and negative symptoms, or a better economic status.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the participants for their time and cooperation. We also appreciate the help of Heather Boldt, M.A. of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Emory University, for her expert comments and editing of this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Yi-lang Tang

    Present address: Departments of Human Genetics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Beijing An Ding Hospital affiliated with Capital University of Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100088, China

    Yi-lang Tang, Pei-xian Mao, Feng Jiang & Zhuoji Cai

  2. Department of Sociology, University of Montreal, Centreville, Canada

    Robert Sevigny

  3. Departments of Human Genetics, Emory University, 615 Michael Street, Suite 301, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Yi-lang Tang

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  1. Yi-lang Tang
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  2. Robert Sevigny
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  3. Pei-xian Mao
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  4. Feng Jiang
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  5. Zhuoji Cai
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Correspondence to Yi-lang Tang.

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Submitted to: Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

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Tang, Yl., Sevigny, R., Mao, Px. et al. Help-seeking Behaviors of Chinese Patients with Schizophrenia Admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital. Adm Policy Ment Health 34, 101–107 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-006-0084-9

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