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Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India

OBJECTIVES: To assess the myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in general population and medical professionals of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 436 subjects (360 subjects from urban and rural commun...

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Autores principales: Kishore, Jugal, Gupta, Avni, Jiloha, Ram Chander, Bantman, Patrick
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267344/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22303041
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.91906
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author Kishore, Jugal
Gupta, Avni
Jiloha, Ram Chander
Bantman, Patrick
author_facet Kishore, Jugal
Gupta, Avni
Jiloha, Ram Chander
Bantman, Patrick
author_sort Kishore, Jugal
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: To assess the myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in general population and medical professionals of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 436 subjects (360 subjects from urban and rural communities of Delhi and 76 medical professionals working in different organizations in Delhi). A pre-tested questionnaire consisting items on perceptions, myths, and beliefs about causes, treatment, and health-seeking behavior for mental disorders was used. The collected data were statistically analyzed using computer software package Epi-info. Appropriate tests of significance were applied to detect any significant association. RESULTS: The mental disorders were thought to be because of loss of semen or vaginal secretion (33.9% rural, 8.6% urban, 1.3% professionals), less sexual desire (23.7% rural, 18% urban), excessive masturbation (15.3% rural, 9.8% urban), God's punishment for their past sins (39.6% rural, 20.7% urban, 5.2% professionals), and polluted air (51.5% rural, 11.5% urban, 5.2% professionals). More people (37.7%) living in joint families than in nuclear families (26.5%) believed that sadness and unhappiness cause mental disorders. 34.8% of the rural subjects and 18% of the urban subjects believed that children do not get mental disorders, which means they have conception of adult-oriented mental disorders. 40.2% in rural areas, 33.3% in urban areas, and 7.9% professionals believed that mental illnesses are untreatable. Many believed that psychiatrists are eccentric (46.1% rural, 8.4% urban, 7.9% professionals), tend to know nothing, and do nothing (21.5% rural, 13.7% urban, 3.9% professionals), while 74.4% of rural subjects, 37.1% of urban subjects, and 17.6% professionals did not know that psychiatry is a branch of medicine. More people in rural areas than in urban area thought that keeping fasting or a faith healer can cure them from mental illnesses, whereas 11.8% of medical professionals believed the same. Most of the people reported that they liked to go to someone close who could listen to their problems, when they were sad and anxious. Only 15.6% of urban and 34.4% of the rural population reported that they would like to go to a psychiatrist when they or their family members are suffering from mental illness. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded from this study that the myths and misconceptions are significantly more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas and among medical professionals, and the people need to be communicated to change their behavior and develop a positive attitude toward mental disorders so that health-seeking behavior can improve.
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spelling pubmed-32673442012-02-02 Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India Kishore, Jugal Gupta, Avni Jiloha, Ram Chander Bantman, Patrick Indian J Psychiatry Original Article OBJECTIVES: To assess the myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in general population and medical professionals of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of 436 subjects (360 subjects from urban and rural communities of Delhi and 76 medical professionals working in different organizations in Delhi). A pre-tested questionnaire consisting items on perceptions, myths, and beliefs about causes, treatment, and health-seeking behavior for mental disorders was used. The collected data were statistically analyzed using computer software package Epi-info. Appropriate tests of significance were applied to detect any significant association. RESULTS: The mental disorders were thought to be because of loss of semen or vaginal secretion (33.9% rural, 8.6% urban, 1.3% professionals), less sexual desire (23.7% rural, 18% urban), excessive masturbation (15.3% rural, 9.8% urban), God's punishment for their past sins (39.6% rural, 20.7% urban, 5.2% professionals), and polluted air (51.5% rural, 11.5% urban, 5.2% professionals). More people (37.7%) living in joint families than in nuclear families (26.5%) believed that sadness and unhappiness cause mental disorders. 34.8% of the rural subjects and 18% of the urban subjects believed that children do not get mental disorders, which means they have conception of adult-oriented mental disorders. 40.2% in rural areas, 33.3% in urban areas, and 7.9% professionals believed that mental illnesses are untreatable. Many believed that psychiatrists are eccentric (46.1% rural, 8.4% urban, 7.9% professionals), tend to know nothing, and do nothing (21.5% rural, 13.7% urban, 3.9% professionals), while 74.4% of rural subjects, 37.1% of urban subjects, and 17.6% professionals did not know that psychiatry is a branch of medicine. More people in rural areas than in urban area thought that keeping fasting or a faith healer can cure them from mental illnesses, whereas 11.8% of medical professionals believed the same. Most of the people reported that they liked to go to someone close who could listen to their problems, when they were sad and anxious. Only 15.6% of urban and 34.4% of the rural population reported that they would like to go to a psychiatrist when they or their family members are suffering from mental illness. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded from this study that the myths and misconceptions are significantly more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas and among medical professionals, and the people need to be communicated to change their behavior and develop a positive attitude toward mental disorders so that health-seeking behavior can improve. Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2011 /pmc/articles/PMC3267344/ /pubmed/22303041 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.91906 Text en Copyright: © Indian Journal of Psychiatry http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Kishore, Jugal
Gupta, Avni
Jiloha, Ram Chander
Bantman, Patrick
Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title_full Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title_fullStr Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title_full_unstemmed Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title_short Myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in Delhi, India
title_sort myths, beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and health-seeking behavior in delhi, india
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3267344/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22303041
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.91906
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