Abstract
The objective of the present study was to investigate the misconceptions Saudis hold regarding psychiatric disorders, people with such disorders, and psychiatric care. A cross sectional study was done in Saudi Arabia during 2019 using surveys, where 1,170 completed questionnaires were received, and data was analyzed using the chi 2 test to determine whether responses to certain questionnaire items varied with respondents' ages and genders. We selected p < 0.05 as our statistical significance threshold. We found that the prevalent misconceptions included beliefs that psychiatric care is expensive and that mental hospitals are old. The respondents' ages were not associated with the likelihood of believing that psychiatric care is expensive or that ill persons should be isolated from the public. However, we found that women were more likely than men to express definite opinions on certain statements on the questionnaire. Our findings suggest that stigmatization against persons with psychiatric disorders may not be a major factor preventing Saudis from seeking psychiatric care. Moreover, positive attitudes towards traditional methods and spiritual mediators were not as common as we had expected. We encourage future studies in Saudi Arabia about the approaches to treating psychiatric disorders and the need for psychiatric care and services awareness among the population.