The Perspective, Perception and Attitude of Students towards Psychiatric Help

Abstract

Introduction: The worldwide burden of mental health issue is becoming highly notable. College student is one of the population that at the high risk of getting mental illness. Although the case of mental health problem is increasing, students do not have the desire to seek help and believe that the issue is common among them to experience. The barrier from receiving proper treatments include personal stigma and attitude towards mental health. Therefore, the aim of this research is to study the perspective, perception and attitude of students towards psychiatric help. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional design was adopted and data were collected form the students of Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic questions for part A, perspective, Perception and Attitude toward psychiatric help for part B and the perception towards mental illness for part C. A total of 194 students were randomly and equally pick as respondents. Results: Data was entered on SPSS version 2.3. The perspective is found to be negative among MSU students while the perception and attitude towards psychiatric help are positive. Conclusion: The perspective, perception and attitude are influenced by the demographic such as gender, age and religion that should be focus on to create awareness that promote help-seeking intervention among university students on having good mental health.