Suicide literacy predicts the provision of more appropriate support to people experiencing psychological distress. (June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cruwys, Tegan; An, Soontae; Chang, Melissa Xue-Ling; Lee, Hannah
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 264(2018)
• Page Start: 96
• Page End: 103
• Publication Date: 2018-06
• Subjects: Mental health literacy -- Mental health stigma -- Help seeking -- Social support -- Depression; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.03.039
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: People rarely recommend professional help to distressed friends or acquaintances. Suicide literacy led to appropriate recommendations to people who were suicidal. Unexpectedly, suicide literacy led to fewer recommendations of professional help overall. Stigma may be a barrier to effectively supporting others in distress. Abstract: Mental health literacy has been hailed as a public health priority to reduce stigma and increase help seeking. We examined the effect of suicide literacy on the type of help provided to those experiencing suicidal ideation. A community sample of 363 Australians were randomly assigned to read one of three messages from a member of their social network (the target). The target reported symptoms consistent with either (1) subclinical distress, (2) clinical depression, or (3) suicidal ideation. Participants were most likely to recommend social support and least likely to recommend professional help. Suicide literacy interacted with the target's presentation, such that participants with higher suicide literacy who considered a suicidal target were less likely to recommend self-help or no action, and more likely to recommend professional help. Suicide literacy was also associated with lower suicide stigma, and unexpectedly, this indirectly predicted more reluctance to recommend professional help. Overall, results indicated that the relationship between mental health literacy, stigma, and provision of help is not straightforward. While suicide literacy was associated with greater sensitivity to a person's risk of suicide, it also predicted fewer recommendations for professional help overall, partly due to the stigma associated with seeking professional help.