67 3 TREATMENT SEEKING IN THE MILITARY - A QUANTITATIVE STUDY examine the effects of framing treatment-seeking behaviour as managing one’s own problems. Previous research has already shown significant effects of framing during referrals on treatment attendance (28). Stigma and seeking treatment If personnel decide that they cannot solve their own problems and need to seek treatment, they still face the stigma associated with seeking treatment. Personnel who did not intend to seek treatment reported twice as much concern about career consequences and (almost) triple as much concern about social rejection and discrimination, compared to personnel who intended to seek treatment. Stigma-related concerns, however, were only significantly associated with treatment-seeking intentions, not actual decisions. Previous studies, both in civilian and military populations, have reported that even though stigma is reported by many as a barrier to seeking treatment, it may not be significantly associated with actual treatment seeking (5, 25). This could be explained by military personnel’s tendency to seek treatment at a crisis point (6, 7). If symptoms are very strong and undeniable, the need for professional help is stronger than the concern about stigma. However, as the current study was cross-sectional, future research should further examine this relationship longitudinally. In this way, it could be examined whether personnel who are concerned about stigma wait longer to seek treatment compared to those who are not. As stigma concerns were prevalent and associated with intentions not to seek treatment, destigmatising interventions could facilitate early treatment seeking. For instance, actual discrimination and negative career consequences should be targeted at a policy level. Additionally, supervisors should receive training to understand and support the mental health needs of employees, as this has been found to be associated with non-stigmatising attitudes (29). Such training is currently being developed and implemented in the Dutch military. Finally, destigmatising interventions targeting the general population could also lower public stigma surrounding mental illness (30). Together, these adaptations will make it easier for personnel to seek treatment at an early stage, thereby improving sustainable employment and well-being at work, for those with mental illness (31). Social encouragement Treatment seekers were almost five times as likely to report that advice from others had an influence on their decision and a quarter of personnel who had sought treatment indicate that they were sent to seek care by others. Our finding was supported by another study (in the Dutch military) that identified the importance of social encouragement to facilitate treatment seeking (6). Additionally, peer support was found to be important in earlier research (8). Peer-to peer programmes can be used to provide treatment-seeking advice and are currently being implemented in the Dutch military (32). Furthermore,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw