Help-Seeking Behavior and Treatment Barriers in Anxiety Disorders: Results from a Representative German Community Survey

Abstract

AbstractAlthough effective therapies exist, treatment rates of anxiety disorders (AD) are low, raising the question why affected individuals do not receive treatment. We provide data from the nationally representative German Health Interview and Examination Survey-2011 (DEGS1) on the help-seeking behavior and perceived treatment barriers of 650 subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ (DSM-IV AD). Only 26% of all cases with AD in the community reported having had contact with mental health services because of their anxiety problems in their lifetime. 16% were currently receiving professional help, most frequently by psychotherapists (8%), psychiatrists (5%) and general practitioners (5%). 40% of all cases never even considered seeking help and 31% reported barriers to treatment, such as self-reliance (18%) or beliefs that treatments were ineffective (9%), unavailable (8%) or too stigmatizing (7%). Measures to increase treatment rates should thus target individual as well as public attitudes and health literacy to increase awareness of and access to evidence-based interventions.