Does self-help increase rates of help seeking for student mental health problems by minimizing stigma as a barrier?

Objective: This study examined whether self-help (books, websites, mobile apps) increases help seeking for mental health problems among college students by minimizing stigma as a barrier.

Participants And Methods: A survey was conducted with 200 college students reporting elevated distress from February to April 2017.

Results: Intentions to use self-help were low, but a significant portion of students unwilling to see mental health professionals intended to use self-help. Greater self-stigma related to lower intentions to seek professional help, but was unrelated to seeking self-help. Similarly, students who only used self-help in the past reported higher self-stigma than those who sought professional treatment in the past. Although stigma was not a barrier for self-help, alternate barriers were identified.

Conclusions: Offering self-help may increase rates of students receiving help for mental health problems, possibly by offering an alternative for students unwilling to seek in-person therapy due to stigma concerns.