Isobel Hawthorne-Steele

Background: Youth suicide is a global issue and a type of death that can be prevented through early access to evidence-based mental health interventions, which can contribute to improved quality of life as well as health, educational and employment outcomes. Young people are encouraged to seek help for mental health problems, yet help-seeking rates remain low. Objective: The aim of this research was to explore how young people with a mental health problem decide to search and ask for professional help, and the impact of help-seeking experiences. Methods: Young people aged 16–25 years with experiences of help-seeking to mental health services were recruited (N = 18). Data analysis was informed by Constructivist Grounded Theory methods, and the findings were presented across four sub-categories: 1. Deciding to Seek Help; 2. Searching for the Right Help; 3. Reflecting on Help-seeking Experiences; and 4. Living with the Impacts of Help-seeking. Findings: Young people often sought help while highly distressed and required the skills and resources of a family member or friend to access the right type of help. Help-seeking was multi-episodic and had lasting positive and negative impacts. Young people’s help-seeking patterns were found to be similar to the ways in which they problem-solve in learning contexts, and the concept of a formal help-seeking skillset was presented. Conclusions: To minimise harm and improve provision and outcomes for young people’s health, education, and employment, research needs to urgently address the theoretical gap by developing distinct youth mental health help-seeking models or frameworks that acknowledge and incorporate how young people decide, search, and ask for help, and the important social relationships that support this process.

Research reports that young people aged 10 to 24 years are reluctant to seek help for a mental health problem due to multiple factors and that intervention within this demographic is critical. The aim of this review was to critique the existing literature, using a systematic approach on how the type of helping relationship affects young people’s help-seeking behavior, engagement, and maintenance in mental health care. Searches of nine databases produced 22 relevant articles of original research with young people aged 10 to 24 years for inclusion in this review. A thematic analysis identified three themes: (a) context of trust and confidentiality, (b) supportive rapport, and (c) collaborative approach to treatment. Findings indicate that researchers, practitioners, and policy makers need to prioritize the role of the helping relationship and its core components of trust and confidentiality, supportive rapport, and collaborative treatment, as essential in the provision of meaningful mental health care for young people.