Two thirds of UK adults in need of a therapist ‘too embarrassed’ to get help

Nov. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- After finding the top ten most common issues that people across the UK would like to receive help from a therapist or coach for and discovering that more than half of people feel they need help with a mental health problem, the world’s largest online therapy and coaching platform has conducted further research into the subject.

www.mentaline.com carried out research of 1,232 people in Britain who were in need of therapy or coaching to discover why it is that many are yet to seek this help from a professional, such as a life coach, psychologist or therapist.

Two thirds of respondents to the latest study, 67%, claimed to be ‘too embarrassed’ to seek help for a problem from a therapist or coach just yet, whilst 37% claimed they hadn’t yet spoken to a close friend or family member about their issues.

Of those ‘too embarrassed’ to turn to a counsellor about an issue, 3% said they thought the professional ‘wouldn’t have dealt with an issue’ like theirs before and 23% thought the problem could ‘go away on its own’.  

11% thought they wouldn’t be able to afford the therapy they wanted, whilst 5% said they were unsure about how they would go about getting help in the first place.

Of those who hadn’t spoken to a close friend or family member about their problem yet, more than a quarter, 26%, ‘didn’t want to burden someone else’ with their issues, whilst nearly 1 in 10, 9%, were worried about the person telling other people.

What’s more, 89% of the respondents admitted they had been dealing with their problem for ‘more than a year’.

Jesper Buch, founder of http://www.Mentaline.com, commented on the findings;

“After previous research we carried out found that so many people wanted help from a professional for an issue they were dealing with, we asked these same respondents why they hadn’t got the help they needed just yet.

“It’s such as shame that so many people claim to be ‘too embarrassed’ to seek help, because professionals deal with issues every day and it’s their job to help people through difficult phases of their life. What is probably more worrying is that many also hadn’t spoken to their family or friends about their problem yet; if there’s anyone you should feel able to talk to, it’s your nearest and dearest.”
He concluded, “The sessions available on Mentaline enable people to have therapy or coaching via webcam or even over the phone, which hopefully would eliminate the embarrassment some people would feel when face to face with a professional in person. The most important thing of all is that people get help when they feel they need it. Once you get to the point of acknowledging you have a problem, the next step needs to be taken. Keeping problems to yourself just makes the situation worse.”

LINK http://www.mentaline.com

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact Shannon Haigh of 10 Yetis PR Agency on 01452 348211 or e-mail shannon@10yetis.co.uk

Editor’s notes

http://www.Mentaline.com was founded by Jesper Buch, the millionaire behind online takeaway portal Just-Eat. The site gives users access to webcam based counselling and sessions with therapists, psychologists and life coaches