# Influences on help-seeking for serious mental illness in Dhaka, bangladesh: a mixed-methods study

## TL;DR

This study explores why people in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, seek help for mental illness, finding that spiritual beliefs and lack of knowledge about mental health services play a big role.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into mental health help-seeking behaviors in a low-income urban slum in Bangladesh using mixed methods.

## Key findings

- Only 0.11% of patients at a mental health hospital came from the Korail slum.
- Many participants first sought help from faith or traditional healers.
- Participants believed in spiritual causes of mental illness and were concerned about the cost and safety of medication.

## Abstract

Early intervention can improve mental health outcomes for people living with serious mental illness (SMI). Understanding what factors influence patients’ health help-seeking decisions are important in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) where resources and outcomes are poor, particularly in slums, to help inform targeted intervention approaches.

A concurrent triangulation mixed methods study conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a quantitative pathway to care questionnaire with individuals from a local slum (Korail) attending the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), a specialised hospital for mental health services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with people with SMI and family caregivers living in Korail.

28,896 patients attended NIMH between 24th September 2022 and 25th September 2023 and only 0.11% (n = 33) came from the Korail slum. 46% had previously seen a faith or traditional healer. Qualitative interviews with people with SMI and caregivers in Korail showed that spiritual possession was among several perceived causes of SMI. Participants also percieved pharmacological treatment as expensive and potentially harmful. However participants also reported a lack of knowledge about specialist mental health facilities and spending considerable funds and resources on healers and private medical providers in the hope of cure.

Help-seeking among families living in slums in Dhaka is pluralistic, with complex influences on treatment choice. Understanding help-seeking behaviour and care pathways is crucial to design an equitable health system and improve access to effective mental health care.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00127-025-03012-0.