“Look Like You Have It Together”: Examining Mental Illness Stigma and Help Seeking Among Diverse Emerging Adults

Individuals transitioning through emerging adulthood endure various challenges that impact their mental health and well-being. Mental illness stigma interferes with the willingness to seek professional mental health services during this transition period. We must fully understand the influence of mental illness stigma and ways to increase the utilization of mental health services for emerging adults. Using content analysis, the researchers examined responses to open-ended survey questions and identified themes that captured beliefs about mental illness stigma and help seeking, desired characteristics of mental health providers, and support preferences for mental health concerns in a diverse group of emerging adults. The three core themes of (1) public stigma, (2) mental health provider traits, and (3) supports for mental health concerns provide insight into the understudied area of emerging adulthood. Study findings have important implications to combat stigma, increase mental health service utilization, and improve mental health service delivery for emerging adults.