Assess the Perception about Mental Illness and Help-Seeking Behaviors among Caregivers and Noncaregivers

A community based descriptive survey research design was adopted and a purposive sampling technique was used to select 200 samples. A self-report questionnaire was used to collect the demographic variables, a standardized tool (CAMI Scale) for assessing the perception of caregivers and non-caregivers on mental illness (ATSPPH-SF Scale). The findings showed that the majority of the mentally ill people (68%) suffered from schizophrenia, (48%) suffered more than 6 months, (59%) mentally ill people belonged to the age group of 18-34 years, caregivers (46%) belonged to the age group of 35-49 years, the non- caregiver (60%) belonged to the age group of 18-34 years, caregivers (69%) were female, non-caregivers (55%) were female, caregivers(62%) were married, non-caregivers(88% ) were married,(97%) of caregivers were Hindu, 100% of non-caregivers were Hindu, non-caregivers(51%) studied up to degree and above, caregivers (59%) were not working, non-caregivers (56%) were not working, caregivers(73%) belonged from a nuclear family, non-caregivers (50%) belonged from a nuclear family, caregiver (47%) had income above 20,000, non-caregivers (53%) had income above 20,000, caregivers (37%) were parents. The findings of the study show that caregivers had more positive perception towards mental illness but non-caregivers have more help-seeking behavior than caregivers and there is no relation between perception and help-seeking behavior of caregivers and non-caregivers.