According to the IBM-HS, help-seeking beliefs are individuals’ topically specific, subjective perceptions about seeking help. The help-seeking beliefs include:

Help-seeking determinants influence personal help-seeking beliefs, and these beliefs shape the corresponding help-seeking mechanisms. Beliefs may arise from direct observation, information provided by other people or the media, or be self-generated through inference processes, and are subject potential change over time (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010, p. 96). From a post-positive perspective, beliefs may be an accurate reflection of reality or based on misconceptions.

A description of available prospective mental health help-seeking belief measures can be found on the Beliefs measures page.

(Please note: select page content is excerpted from Hammer et al., 2024.)