Second, Mechanic’s (1978) general theory of help seeking takes a psychological approach to health care utilization. The theory incorporates ten decision points which determine
illness behavior: 1) the salience of deviant signs and symptoms; 2) the individual’s perception of symptom severity; 3) the disruption of the individual’s daily life as caused by the illness; 4) the frequency of symptoms and their persistence; 5) the individual’s tolerance of symptoms; 6) the individual’s knowledge and cultural assumptions of the illness; 7) denial of illness as a result of basic needs; 8) whether or not response to the illness disrupts needs; 9) alternative interpretations of symptom expression;and 10) treatment availability via location, economic cost, psychological cost (stigma, humility, etc.), and treatment resources.