Stigmatic Beliefs About Depression and Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Help Among Doctors:Mediating Role of Depression

Abstract

The demanding nature of the medical profession is well-known, often requiring doctors to navigate high-stress environments while providing optimal care to patients. This study aimed at determining the association between Stigma beliefs and Attitude towards seeking Professional help while keeping Depression as the mediating factor. A total of N = 200 samples were recruited in the study form the targeted population of nine hundred doctors in the public sector hospitals of Rawalpindi. The results indicated that depression, along with self-stigma, showed a significant positive correlation (.242) such that individuals with high depression level tend to experience more self-stigma related to depression. However, the correlation between depression and perceived stigma indicated a weak and statistically insignificant (.078) association of depression with stigma related to the perception from other people. Another important finding was a significant negative correlation between the variables self- stigma and attitude toward seeking help (-.454), implying that those with higher personal stigma were less likely to develop a good attitude toward seeking mental health support. In conclusion, this study revealed significant positive correlations of depression with both self- stigma and a significant negative correlation between depression and attitudes towards help- seeking. These results are consistent with earlier studies documenting stigma on mental health as a barrier to seeking services for mental health issues among different populations.