Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Myths, Misconceptions, and Metaphorical Mountains: What Factors Keep Students From Seeking Mental Health Care?

The primary purpose of the present research is to better understand what most affects a college student’s decision to seek counseling, through direct factors such as cost and location, as well as indirect factors that may influence stigmas towards counseling, such as myths and misconceptions. We aim to understand these factors so we can inform the process of better education about mental healthcare, as well as dispelling myths and doubts about the mental healthcare process. Data was collected through the use of a survey divided into three sections, titled “Seeking Mental Health Care”, “Mental Health Care Thoughts”, and “Mental Health Care Factors”. The section “Seeking Mental Health Care” discussed students’ likelihood to seek counseling within various hypothetical situations, and the section “Mental Health Care Factors” discussed direct factors that would affect decisions to seek mental healthcare. “Statements included in the “Mental Health Care Thoughts” portion were primarily pulled from a document created by Southwest Minnesota State University discussing common misconceptions about counseling, with participants choosing whether or not they thought the statements were true or false. (Myths vs. Facts about Counseling, n.d.) This research is a modified continuation of a pilot study conducted by Dr. Kathleen West and Kevin Deeter of Winthrop University, and the survey used is a refined version of the same survey created for and utilized in the pilot.