The effects of stigma and discrimination on help‐seeking behaviour and the role of police contact

In the attempt to increase mental health‐related service contacts, research has increasingly focussed on understanding help‐seeking; this has repeatedly found stigma and discrimination to present as significant factors inhibiting contact with services. Other cognate research has demonstrated the over‐representation of mental illness in the criminal justice system, and varied impacts of police contact on perceptions of police legitimacy and future compliance‐related behaviour. However, there has been limited‐to‐no research examining the potential effects of police contact on future help‐seeking behaviours. The study included 101 Australian‐based participants with a lived experience of mental illness who completed an online survey measuring anticipated and experienced discrimination, stigma, police contact variables and general help‐seeking. Findings suggested that anticipated discrimination and prior police contact were associated with a lower intention to seek help, with those reporting prior police contact being significantly less likely to seek help than those without prior police contact. The results indicate the need to consider individualised experiences of contacts with health and justice services, and for these services to prioritise procedurally just engagement, to limit experiences of discrimination and increase people's inclination to seek help.