Background

Mental disorders are considered a significant public health problem, posing a great burden worldwide.

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate socio-demographic characteristics, perceptions of mental illness aetiology and attitudes toward patients, care and mental illness management.

Material and methods

This was a comparative cross-sectional study including 1,355 participants from King Faisal University in Al-Ahsa, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia. A survey gathered information on perceptions and attitudes regarding the aetiology of mental illness, mental health management and patients with mental illness.

Results

A total of 52% of participants had previous contact with a mentally ill person. Only 14% thought mental illness could be ascribed to God’s punishment on Earth. Thus, participants showed adequate knowledge of mental disorder aetiology. Nearly 80% of participants reported positive perceptions of people with mental illness. While 35% had negative perceptions of people with mental issues, a vast majority (82%) showed some positive attitudes towards mental illnesses. Female, unmarried and urban participants were significantly associated with higher attitude scores. Following multiple linear regression analysis between attitude scores and significant variables from the bivariate analysis, gender, residence and marital status remained significant (p = 0.006, p = 0.002, and p = 0.023, respectively).

Conclusions

Further investigation is needed to reassess the prevalence of mental disorders. Most participants showed adequate knowledge regarding the aetiology of mental disorders, as well as some positive attitudes. Health education campaigns are needed to rectify the inaccurate beliefs and negative attitudes that were detected in this study.