Why Is It So Hard to Get Help? Barriers to Help-Seeking in Postsecondary Students Struggling with Mental Health Issues: a Scoping Review

Mental illness and other subclinical mental health issues are a significant and growing problem for postsecondary students. Despite the availability and benefits of mental health services on university and college campuses across North America, many students still do not seek help. This scoping review explores the barriers to mental health help-seeking facing postsecondary students in Canada and the USA. A total of 24 journal articles were identified after searching two multidisciplinary databases. This review comprehensively summarizes the barriers to help-seeking behaviors for post-secondary students. Barriers to help-seeking experienced by students existed on the institutional, sociocultural, and personal levels. Institutional factors included access to university/college mental health services, insurance coverage, and usability of services. Further research is required to develop an understanding of all the barriers and their relation to one another.