What makes people decide who to turn to when faced with a mental health problem? Results from a French survey

441 adults aged 18 to 70 were randomly selected from the general population of two suburban districts near Paris and agreed to participate in the study (response rate = 60.4%). The 412 respondents with no mental health problems based on the CIDI-SF and the CAGE, who had not consulted for a mental health problem in the previous year, were asked in detail about their intentions to seek help in case of a psychological disorder and about their opinion of mental health treatments. The links between the respondents' characteristics and intentions and opinions were explored.More than half of the sample (57.8%) would see their general practitioner (GP) first and 46.6% would continue with their GP for follow-up. Mental health professionals were mentioned far less than GPs. People who would choose their GP first were older and less educated, whereas those who would favor mental health specialists had lower social support. For psychotherapy, respondents were split equally between seeing a GP, a psychiatrist or a psychologist. People were reluctant to take psychotropic drugs, but looked favorably on psychotherapy.GPs are often the point of entry into the mental health care system and need to be supported. Public information campaigns about mental health care options and treatments are needed to educate the public, eliminate the stigma of mental illness and eliminate prejudices.There has been major concern about the unequal use of mental health care, even in countries with universal coverage such as Canada [1] where, despite such coverage, people from higher socioeconomic backgrounds receive more psychiatric care than those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds for equivalent mental health problems.In addition to universal coverage, mental health literacy has been established as an important factor in the provision of adequate care, not only for people to be able to recognize specific disorders, but also for them to believe help is possible and available. People need to have the