Mental Health Attitudes And Barriers To Access Across Health Professional Students

Health professional students are trained to advocate for health and well-being of others, yet they often struggle to prioritize their own self-care. While they attain knowledge and skills related to mental health, this knowledge may not translate into accessing resources for themselves. As mental health care for college students grows, we must assess the gap between mental health service, availability, and utilization. PURPOSE: To examine the attitudes and barriers to mental healthcare in college health professional students. METHODS: Health professional students at a university (n = 136; age: 23.6 ± 2.9 years) completed an online survey with questions on demographics, past medical history, the Barriers Toward Seeking Help Tool, Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS), and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPH-SF). Descriptive statistics examined demographic data, attitude scores, and frequency of barriers. RESULTS: Students were primarily first and second-year graduate students (29.4%, n = 40; 39.7%, n = 54 respectively) with 81.6% (n = 111) reporting past concerns about their mental health. Despite these concerns, 72.1% (n = 98) did not seek/reach out to campus mental health services. MHSAS and ATSPPH-SF scores were 5.36 ± 1.20 and 29.78 ± 5.50 respectively. Key barriers seeking help included: lack of time 74.3 % (n = 101); difficulty finding/ accessing services 73.5% (n = 100); lack of confidentiality 82.4% (n = 112); fear professors might learn about their counseling 83.8% (n = 114); fear using services will negatively impact their career 73.5% (n = 100); and fear they will be considered weak 65.4% (n = 89). CONCLUSION: Health professional students displayed positive scores on MHSAS and ATSPPH-SF scales, revealing receptiveness to seek care when needed. However, barriers to accessing mental health services remain. Healthcare programs should prioritize creating supportive environments that normalize and advocate for mental health care. This may include implementing strategies to bridge the gap between campus resources and student needs. Efforts should focus on mitigating these barriers, and future research to uncover the root cause of fear and stigma within this population.