Intent was moderately high, but lack of awareness, self-reliance, and shame kept many from getting support.

In Psychological help-seeking behaviours amongst those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease; A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study, people reported moderately high intention to seek professional help for inflammatory bowel disease related negative emotions. Yet 59.8% said they had experienced those emotions and still did not seek help. Social pressure and personal attitudes were the strongest predictors of intention, pointing to leverage points for clinical care and patient outreach.

Quick summary

• What the study found: Intention to seek help was moderately high, but most had not sought help; attitudes and subjective norms strongly predicted intention.
• Why it matters: Closing the gap requires normalising help-seeking and making support visible and integrated into routine inflammatory bowel disease care.
• What to be careful about: The study links factors to intention, not confirmed behaviour change or treatment outcomes.

What was found

The sample included 376 people living with inflammatory bowel disease, aged 18 to 74. Participants reported moderately high intentions to seek help for negative emotions related to their condition (M = 4.86, SD = 1.80). Despite that, 59.8% reported they had not sought help even when they experienced those emotions.

Help-seeking was not rare, but it was far from routine. Prior help-seeking was reported by 45%, and 18.6% were currently receiving support. Intention to seek help was higher among those with previous help-seeking experience and those with an inflammatory bowel disease related surgical history.

Diagnosis also mattered: people living with Crohn’s Disease reported significantly higher help-seeking intentions than those with Ulcerative Colitis. No statistically significant differences were found by age, gender identity, education, healthcare provisions, length of diagnosis, current treatment, mental health diagnosis, co-morbidities, or perceived disease control.

What it means

The main story is an intention-to-action gap. Many people say they would seek help, but do not follow through when distress hits. That gap is where systems, clinicians, and messaging can either remove friction or add it.

The most common barriers were practical and social: lack of knowledge of available services (67.9%), wanting to solve the problem independently (63.9%), and embarrassment or shame (60.2%). Access problems (57.5%) and financial constraints (56.1%) were also common.

Where it fits

The study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour, which argues intention is shaped by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. Here, subjective norms means perceived social pressure or approval from important others. Perceived behavioural control means how easy or doable help-seeking feels.

Attitudes and subjective norms were the key predictors. Together, the Theory of Planned Behaviour constructs explained 55.5% of variance in behavioural intention, with subjective norms and attitudes significant, and perceived behavioural control not significant in the regression model.

How to use it

Make psychological care visible at the point of inflammatory bowel disease care. Participants strongly valued accessible, affordable, inflammatory bowel disease informed psychological support integrated into routine care, plus peer and community resources. A simple start is routine screening and direct questions about emotional impact during regular appointments.

Shift norms, not just referrals. Because subjective norms were a strong predictor, clinics can normalise support as standard care: “Many patients use psychological support as part of treatment.” Patients can also be prompted to identify one trusted person who would support help-seeking.

Limits & what we still don’t know

This was cross-sectional and correlational, so it cannot show that changing attitudes or norms causes help-seeking. It measured intentions and self-reported behaviour, not verified service use. It also does not test which specific service changes most effectively reduce stigma, cost barriers, or delays.

Closing takeaway

This journal article shows a clear mismatch: people with inflammatory bowel disease often intend to seek psychological help, but many do not. The strongest levers sit in social permission and personal beliefs, alongside basic service visibility and affordability. Treat psychological check-ins and referral pathways as routine inflammatory bowel disease care, not an optional extra.

Data in this article is provided by PLOS.

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