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Mental health literacy and the experience of depression in a community sample of gay men

Wang, Jen and Häusermann, Michael and Weiss, Mitchell G.. (2014) Mental health literacy and the experience of depression in a community sample of gay men. Journal of affective disorders, Vol. 155. pp. 200-207.

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Official URL: http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6233662

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Abstract

Gay men are at higher risk of suffering from a variety of psychiatric disorders, yet the mental health literacy of this population has remained largely unknown.; In 2007 and 2011, surveys were conducted among gay men in Geneva, Switzerland, recruited by probability-based time-space sampling. Based on a case vignette of a man with major depression, respondents were asked a series of questions about labelling, perceived risk, and help-seeking beliefs. Men meeting caseness for major depression were asked open questions about perceived causes and additional help-seeking/self-help.; Among the 762 respondents, 14.7% met diagnostic criteria for major depression (MDD) in the past 12 months. The vignette was labelled depression by 44.1% of the entire sample, and 61.9% of the men with MDD. Discrimination (33.2%), acceptance or rejection by others (21.4%), and loneliness (24.9%) were the most common reasons given for greater susceptibility among gay men, yet men with MDD reported problems with love/relationship (32.5%) and work (28.9%) as the most common perceived causes of recent depression, and problems with love/relationship (21.9%), accepting one's homosexuality (21.1%), and family (20.2%) at initial outset. The highest proportions of gay men rated non-medical options such as a close friend (91.6%), relaxation exercises or meditation (84.4%), and physical activity (83.5%) as being helpful for the depression vignette.; No probes used for open questions, and findings generalizable only to gay men in the sampling scheme.; There are many commonalities in labelling, perceived causes, and help-seeking with general populations, but also numerous specificities in mental health literacy and experience among gay men.
Faculties and Departments:09 Associated Institutions > Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)
UniBasel Contributors:Weiss, Mitchell G.
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0165-0327
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
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Last Modified:15 Aug 2014 07:16
Deposited On:15 Aug 2014 07:16

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