The Stigma of Mental Illness in Small Towns for Older Adults

A study by researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found older adults' decision not to seek help for mental illness is most commonly rooted in the conviction that they should not require aid, reports Next Avenue . Other barriers cited by 478 older adults in rural North Carolina included not knowing where to go, distance, mistrust of counselors or therapists, "not wanting to talk with a stranger about private matters," and stigma. "We as a society have a hard time asking for help, so it's hard enough to ask for help without feeling that everybody's going to know it," says Dennis Mohatt at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The Carter Center's Eve Byrd also notes the stigma around aging itself exacerbates this situation for older adults. A discussion of stigma associated with seeing a mental health professional assumes "that there is somebody to go to to begin with," says Minnesota State University Professor Paul Mackie. "Too often, when you can even find services, they're going to be limited." Mackie also says addressing a lack of mental health practitioners for older adults in rural regions partly requires stoking students' interest in the field. His research indicates that potential future rural mental health professionals are most likely going to be young people raised in small towns.