Table 2.

The context of help‐seeking in a rural community

		Socio‐spatial relationships
		Physical distance	Social proximity
Help‐seeking process	Facilitators to help‐seeking	You have to be sort of flexible. Where can we meet? Perhaps we should not meet there, but rather in a larger place where there is nobody paying any notice…nobody from the neighborhood (FG6). Our consultation room is everywhere, so to speak (FG1).	You can get several referrals, from family, neighbors, friends and others… So you get a pretty good overview and get to know the case early on (FG5). We have good opportunities to detect people early, because we do a lot of networking. And we have many informants (FG4).
	Barriers to help‐seeking	Even if they have doctors and psychologists at the CMHC, they are still far away, at least on a mental level (FG1). This is our main challenge…this last year it has been difficult to get him to turn up for appointments. That is, organizing the practicalities around transportation (FG4).	I have worked with a young man with psychosis this last year. He does not allow home visits. He absolutely does not want to…but at least he comes to every other appointment, and I work closely with his GP. He does not want to involve the local psychiatric services (FG6). There are so many rumors about people, it must be difficult to have so much indirect knowledge, and perhaps it is not even true. This thing about rumors is pretty difficult…In a small community you get a good overview, but for better or worse, so to speak (FG5)