Investigation of adult mental health literacy level and barriers to seeking mental health counseling

This work; It was planned and carried out in a descriptive and relationship-seeking type in order to determine the mental health literacy levels of adults, to identify the barriers to getting mental health counseling and to examine the relationship with each other. The study was carried out between 16.12.2022 and 30.05.2023, and the data of the study were collected by snowball sampling method from online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp through Google Forms across Turkey between January 2, 2023 and March 31, 2023, following the approval of the ethics committee. The sample size was calculated using the G*Power 3.1.9.4 package program and the sample of the study was planned to be 320 people, and the data collection process was completed with the participation of 348 people. Data were collected with Personal Information Form, Mental Health Literacy Scale, Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Counseling Scale. Data analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. In this study, it was observed that the mean score of the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) (12.37±3.14) was moderate, and the mean score of Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Counseling (BSMHC) (70.46±20.94) was below the average. In the study; it was seen that women's MHL and sub-dimension scores were significantly higher, but men were significantly higher in the faith oriented sub-dimension (p=0.000), while men's mean scores were higher in RSQI and sub-dimensions. There was a negative significant difference between mental health literacy and barriers to seeking mental health counseling (p<0.05). The level of mental health literacy was found to be high in those who have children, those with undergraduate and graduate education levels, individuals with mental problems in their families, those who have information about mental health literacy, and those who prefer a psychologist and doctor as a reference source when they have a mental problem. Among the barriers to seeking mental health counseling, the most important factors affecting the level of mental health literacy were seen as lack of information, lack of access, negatively perceived value, discomfort with emotions and cultural barriers. It is recommended that studies be conducted to determine more comprehensively the barriers to seeking mental health counseling and the factors that affect individuals. Keywords: Seeking to counseling, barriers, mental health, literacy.