mental barriers to problem solving

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The six main barriers against problem-solving and how to overcome them.

Challenges. Disputes. Dilemmas. Obstacles. Troubles. Issues. Headaches.

• The uniqueness of every different issue makes the need for an also adapted and individualized solution.
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There are more than thirty different ways to call all those unpleasant and stressful situations which prevent us from directly achieving what we want to achieve. Life is full of them. This is why the ability to solve problems in an effective and timely manner without any impediments is considered to be one of the most key and critical skill for resolutive and successful leaders. But is not just leaders or top managers facing the way forward.  According to a Harvard Bussiness Review survey , people's skills depends on their level on the organization and their particular job and activities. However, when coming to problem-solving, there is a remarkable consistency about the importance of it within all the different measured organization levels.

There are small problems and big problems. Those ones that we laugh about and those that take our sleep away. Problems that affect just us or our whole company. Issues that need to be resolved proactively and others that require us to wait and observe.  There is a special kind of problem for every day of our lives, but all of them responds to a common denominator: addressing them adequately.  It is our ability to do so what makes the difference between success and failure.

Problems manifest themselves in many different ways. As inconsistent results or performance. As a failure toward standards.  As discrepancies between expectations and reality.  The uniqueness of every different issue makes the need for an also adapted and individualized solution. This is why finding the way forward can be sometimes tricky. There are many reasons why it is difficult to find a solution to a problem, but you can find the six more common causes and the way to overcome them!

1. Difficulty to recognize that there is a problem

Nobody likes to be wrong. “Cognitive dissonance is what we feel when the self-concept — I’m smart, I’m kind, I’m convinced this belief is true — is threatened by evidence that we did something that wasn’t smart, that we did something that hurt another person, that the belief isn’t true,” explains Carol Tavris. 

Problems and mistakes are not easy to digest. To  reduce this cognitive dissonance, we need to modify our self-concept or well deny the evidence. Many times is just easier to simply turn our back to an issue and blindly keep going.  But the only way to end it up to satisfactory is to make an effort to recognize and accept the evidence. Being wrong is human and until the problem is not acknowledged solutions will never materialize. To fully accept that something is not going the way it should, the easiest way is to focus on the benefits of new approaches and always remain non-judgemental about the causes. Sometimes we may be are afraid of the costs in terms of resources, time and physical or mental efforts that working for the solution may eventually bring. We may need then to project ourselves in all the fatalistic consequences that we will finally encounter in case we continue sunk in the problem. Sometimes we really need to visualize the disaster before accepting a need for change.

2. Huge size problem

Yes! We clearly know that something is going wrong. But the issue is so big that there is no way we can try to solve it without blowing our life into pieces. Fair enough. Some problems are so big that it is not possible to find at once a solution for them. But we can always break them into smaller pieces and visualize the different steps and actions that we could eventually undertake to get to our final goal. Make sure you do not lose sight of the original problem!

3. Poorly framed problem

Without the proper framing, there is no certainty about the appropriate focus on the right problem. Asking the relevant questions is a crucial aspect to it. Does your frame of the problem capture its real essence? Do you have all the background information needed? Can you rephrase the problem and it is still understandable? Have you explored it from different perspectives? Are different people able to understand your frame for the problem correctly? Answering to the right problem in the right way depends 95% on the correct framing of it!

'If I have an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution' (Albert Einstein)

4. Lack of respect for rhythms

There is always a right time for preparation, a right time for action and a right time for patience. Respecting the rhythms of a problem is directly link to the success of the solution. Acting too quickly or waiting too long can have real counterproductive effects. There is a need for enough time to gather information and understand all the different upshots of a planned solution. A balance of action is crucial to avoid both eagerness and laxity. Waiting for the proper time to take action is sometimes the most complicated part of it.

5. Lack of problem'roots identification

It is quite often that we feel something is not going the way it should without clearly identifying what the exact problematic issue is. We are able to frame all the negative effects and consequences, but we do not really get to appropriately verbalized what the problem is all together. Consequently, we tend to fix the symptoms without getting to the real causes.  It is as common as dangerous and not sustainable for problem-solving. 

Make sure that you have a clear picture of what are the roots of the problem and what are just the manifestations or ramifications of it. Double loop always to make sure that you are not patching over the symptoms but getting to the heart of the matter.

6. Failure to identify the involved parts

Take time to figure out and consult every simple part involved in the problem as well as affected by the possible solution. Problems and solutions always have at the core human needs and impacts. Failing to identify and take into consideration the human factor in the problem-solving process will prevent the whole mechanism from reaching the desired final goal.

'We always hope for the easy fix: the one simple change that will erase a problem in a stroke. But few things in life work this way. Instead, success requires making a hundred small steps go right - one after the other, no slipups, no goofs, everyone pitching in.'  ( Atul Gawande)

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6 Common Problem Solving Barriers and How Can Managers Beat them?

What is the meaning of barriers to problem solving, what are the 6 barriers to problem solving, examples of barriers to problem solving, how to overcome problem solving barriers at work tips for managers, problem solving barriers faqs.

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Lack of motivation

Lack of knowledge, lack of resources, emotional barriers, cultural and societal barriers, fear of failure.

• Lack of motivation: A person who lacks motivation may struggle to complete tasks on time or produce quality work. For example, an employee who is disengaged from their job may procrastinate on essential tasks or show up late to work.
• Lack of knowledge : Employees who lack knowledge or training may be unable to perform their duties effectively. For example, a new employee unfamiliar with the company’s software systems may struggle to complete tasks on their computer.
• Lack of resources: Employees may be unable to complete their work due to a lack of resources, such as equipment or technology. For example, a graphic designer who doesn’t have access to the latest design software may struggle to produce high-quality designs.
• Emotional barriers: Emotional barriers can affect an employee’s ability to perform their job effectively. For example, an employee dealing with a personal issue, such as a divorce, may have trouble focusing on their work and meeting deadlines.
• Cultural and societal barriers: Cultural and societal barriers can affect an employee’s ability to work effectively. For example, an employee from a different culture may struggle to communicate effectively with colleagues or may feel uncomfortable in a work environment that is not inclusive.
• Fear of failure : Employees who fear failure may avoid taking on new challenges or may not take risks that could benefit the company. For example, an employee afraid of making mistakes may not take on a leadership role or hesitate to make decisions that could impact the company’s bottom line.
• Identify and Define the Problem: Define the problem and understand its root cause. This will help you identify the obstacles that are preventing effective problem solving.
• C ollaborate and Communicate: Work with others to gather information, generate new ideas, and share perspectives. Effective communication can help overcome misunderstandings and promote creative problem solving.
• Use Creative Problem Solving Techniques: Consider using creative problem solving techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or SWOT analysis to explore new ideas and generate innovative solutions.
• Embrace Flexibility: Be open to new ideas and approaches. Embracing flexibility can help you overcome fixed mindsets and encourage creativity in problem solving.
• Invest in Resources: Ensure that you have access to the necessary resources, such as time, money, or personnel, to effectively solve complex problems.
• Emphasize Continuous Learning: Encourage continuous learning and improvement by seeking feedback, evaluating outcomes, and reflecting on the problem solving process. This can help you identify improvement areas and promote a continuous improvement culture.

How good are you in jumping over problem-solving barriers?

Find out now with the free problem-solving assessment for managers and leaders.

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What are the five key obstacles to problem solving, can habits be a barrier to problem solving, how do you overcome barriers in problem solving.

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Identifying Barriers to Problem-Solving in Psychology

Problem-solving is a key aspect of psychology, essential for understanding and overcoming challenges in our daily lives. There are common barriers that can hinder our ability to effectively solve problems. From mental blocks to confirmation bias, these obstacles can impede our progress.

In this article, we will explore the various barriers to problem-solving in psychology, as well as strategies to overcome them. By addressing these challenges head-on, we can unlock the benefits of improved problem-solving skills and mental agility.

• Identifying and overcoming barriers to problem-solving in psychology can lead to more effective and efficient solutions.
• Some common barriers include mental blocks, confirmation bias, and functional fixedness, which can all limit critical thinking and creativity.
• Mindfulness techniques, seeking different perspectives, and collaborating with others can help overcome these barriers and lead to more successful problem-solving.
• 1 What Is Problem-Solving in Psychology?
• 2 Why Is Problem-Solving Important in Psychology?
• 3.1 Mental Blocks
• 3.2 Confirmation Bias
• 3.3 Functional Fixedness
• 3.4 Lack of Creativity
• 3.5 Emotional Barriers
• 3.6 Cultural Influences
• 4.1 Divergent Thinking
• 4.2 Mindfulness Techniques
• 4.3 Seeking Different Perspectives
• 4.4 Challenging Assumptions
• 4.5 Collaborating with Others
• 5 What Are the Benefits of Overcoming These Barriers?
• 6 Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Problem-Solving in Psychology?

Problem-solving in psychology refers to the cognitive processes through which individuals identify and overcome obstacles or challenges to reach a desired goal, drawing on various mental processes and strategies.

In the realm of cognitive psychology, problem-solving is a key area of study that delves into how people use algorithms and heuristics to tackle complex issues. Algorithms are systematic step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution, whereas heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that provide efficient solutions, albeit without certainty. Understanding these mental processes is crucial in exploring how individuals approach different types of problems and make decisions based on their problem-solving strategies.

Why Is Problem-Solving Important in Psychology?

Problem-solving holds significant importance in psychology as it facilitates the discovery of new insights, enhances understanding of complex issues, and fosters effective actions based on informed decisions.

Assumptions play a crucial role in problem-solving processes, influencing how individuals perceive and approach challenges. By challenging these assumptions, individuals can break through mental barriers and explore creative solutions.

Functional fixedness, a cognitive bias where individuals restrict the use of objects to their traditional functions, can hinder problem-solving. Overcoming functional fixedness involves reevaluating the purpose of objects, leading to innovative problem-solving strategies.

Through problem-solving, psychologists uncover underlying patterns in behavior, delve into subconscious motivations, and offer practical interventions to improve mental well-being.

What Are the Common Barriers to Problem-Solving in Psychology?

In psychology, common barriers to problem-solving include mental blocks , confirmation bias , functional fixedness, lack of creativity, emotional barriers, and cultural influences that hinder the application of knowledge and resources to overcome challenges.

Mental blocks refer to the difficulty in generating new ideas or solutions due to preconceived notions or past experiences. Confirmation bias, on the other hand, is the tendency to search for, interpret, or prioritize information that confirms existing beliefs or hypotheses, while disregarding opposing evidence.

Functional fixedness limits problem-solving by constraining individuals to view objects or concepts in their traditional uses, inhibiting creative approaches. Lack of creativity impedes the ability to think outside the box and consider unconventional solutions.

Emotional barriers such as fear, stress, or anxiety can halt progress by clouding judgment and hindering clear decision-making. Cultural influences may introduce unique perspectives or expectations that clash with effective problem-solving strategies, complicating the resolution process.

Mental Blocks

Mental blocks in problem-solving occur when individuals struggle to consider all relevant information, fall into a fixed mental set, or become fixated on irrelevant details, hindering progress and creative solutions.

For instance, irrelevant information can lead to mental blocks by distracting individuals from focusing on the key elements required to solve a problem effectively. This could involve getting caught up in minor details that have no real impact on the overall solution. A fixed mental set, formed by previous experiences or patterns, can limit one’s ability to approach a problem from new perspectives, restricting innovative thinking.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias, a common barrier in problem-solving, leads individuals to seek information that confirms their existing knowledge or assumptions, potentially overlooking contradictory data and hindering objective analysis.

This cognitive bias affects decision-making and problem-solving processes by creating a tendency to favor information that aligns with one’s beliefs, rather than considering all perspectives.

• One effective method to mitigate confirmation bias is by actively challenging assumptions through critical thinking.
• By questioning the validity of existing beliefs and seeking out diverse viewpoints, individuals can counteract the tendency to only consider information that confirms their preconceptions.
• Another strategy is to promote a culture of open-mindedness and encourage constructive debate within teams to foster a more comprehensive evaluation of data.

Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness restricts problem-solving by limiting individuals to conventional uses of objects, impeding the discovery of innovative solutions and hindering the application of insightful approaches to challenges.

For instance, when faced with a task that requires a candle to be mounted on a wall to provide lighting, someone bound by functional fixedness may struggle to see the potential solution of using the candle wax as an adhesive instead of solely perceiving the candle’s purpose as a light source.

This mental rigidity often leads individuals to overlook unconventional or creative methods, which can stifle their ability to find effective problem-solving strategies.

To combat this cognitive limitation, fostering divergent thinking, encouraging experimentation, and promoting flexibility in approaching tasks can help individuals break free from functional fixedness and unlock their creativity.

Lack of Creativity

A lack of creativity poses a significant barrier to problem-solving, limiting the potential for improvement and hindering flexible thinking required to generate novel solutions and address complex challenges.

When individuals are unable to think outside the box and explore unconventional approaches, they may find themselves stuck in repetitive patterns without breakthroughs.

Flexibility is key to overcoming this hurdle, allowing individuals to adapt their perspectives, pivot when necessary, and consider multiple viewpoints to arrive at innovative solutions.

Encouraging a culture that embraces experimentation, values diverse ideas, and fosters an environment of continuous learning can fuel creativity and push problem-solving capabilities to new heights.

Emotional Barriers

Emotional barriers, such as fear of failure, can impede problem-solving by creating anxiety, reducing risk-taking behavior, and hindering effective collaboration with others, limiting the exploration of innovative solutions.

When individuals are held back by the fear of failure, it often stems from a deep-seated worry about making mistakes or being judged negatively. This fear can lead to hesitation in decision-making processes and reluctance to explore unconventional approaches, ultimately hindering the ability to discover creative solutions. To overcome this obstacle, it is essential to cultivate a positive emotional environment that fosters trust, resilience, and open communication among team members. Encouraging a mindset that embraces failure as a stepping stone to success can enable individuals to take risks, learn from setbacks, and collaborate effectively to overcome challenges.

Cultural Influences

Cultural influences can act as barriers to problem-solving by imposing rigid norms, limiting flexibility in thinking, and hindering effective communication and collaboration among diverse individuals with varying perspectives.

When individuals from different cultural backgrounds come together to solve problems, the ingrained values and beliefs they hold can shape their approaches and methods.

For example, in some cultures, decisiveness and quick decision-making are highly valued, while in others, a consensus-building process is preferred.

Understanding and recognizing these differences is crucial for navigating through the cultural barriers that might arise during collaborative problem-solving.

How Can These Barriers Be Overcome?

These barriers to problem-solving in psychology can be overcome through various strategies such as divergent thinking, mindfulness techniques, seeking different perspectives, challenging assumptions, and collaborating with others to leverage diverse insights and foster critical thinking.

Engaging in divergent thinking , which involves generating multiple solutions or viewpoints for a single issue, can help break away from conventional problem-solving methods. By encouraging a free flow of ideas without immediate judgment, individuals can explore innovative paths that may lead to breakthrough solutions. Actively seeking diverse perspectives from individuals with varied backgrounds, experiences, and expertise can offer fresh insights that challenge existing assumptions and broaden the problem-solving scope. This diversity of viewpoints can spark creativity and unconventional approaches that enhance problem-solving outcomes.

Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking enhances problem-solving by encouraging creative exploration of multiple solutions, breaking habitual thought patterns, and fostering flexibility in generating innovative ideas to address challenges.

When individuals engage in divergent thinking, they open up their minds to various possibilities and perspectives. Instead of being constrained by conventional norms, a person might ideate freely without limitations. This leads to out-of-the-box solutions that can revolutionize how problems are approached. Divergent thinking sparks creativity by allowing unconventional ideas to surface and flourish.

For example, imagine a team tasked with redesigning a city park. Instead of sticking to traditional layouts, they might brainstorm wild concepts like turning the park into a futuristic playground, a pop-up art gallery space, or a wildlife sanctuary. Such diverse ideas stem from divergent thinking and push boundaries beyond the ordinary.

Mindfulness Techniques

Mindfulness techniques can aid problem-solving by promoting present-moment awareness, reducing cognitive biases, and fostering a habit of continuous learning that enhances adaptability and open-mindedness in addressing challenges.

Engaging in regular mindfulness practices encourages individuals to stay grounded in the current moment, allowing them to detach from preconceived notions and biases that could cloud judgment. By cultivating a non-judgmental attitude towards thoughts and emotions, people develop the capacity to observe situations from a neutral perspective, facilitating clearer decision-making processes. Mindfulness techniques facilitate the development of a growth mindset, where one acknowledges mistakes as opportunities for learning and improvement rather than failures.

Seeking Different Perspectives

Seeking different perspectives in problem-solving involves tapping into diverse resources, engaging in effective communication, and considering alternative viewpoints to broaden understanding and identify innovative solutions to complex issues.

Collaboration among individuals with various backgrounds and experiences can offer fresh insights and approaches to tackling challenges. By fostering an environment where all voices are valued and heard, teams can leverage the collective wisdom and creativity present in diverse perspectives. For example, in the tech industry, companies like Google encourage cross-functional teams to work together, harnessing diverse skill sets to develop groundbreaking technologies.

To incorporate diverse viewpoints, one can implement brainstorming sessions that involve individuals from different departments or disciplines to encourage out-of-the-box thinking. Another effective method is to conduct surveys or focus groups to gather input from a wide range of stakeholders and ensure inclusivity in decision-making processes.

Challenging Assumptions

Challenging assumptions is a key strategy in problem-solving, as it prompts individuals to critically evaluate preconceived notions, gain new insights, and expand their knowledge base to approach challenges from fresh perspectives.

By questioning established beliefs or ways of thinking, individuals open the door to innovative solutions and original perspectives. Stepping outside the boundaries of conventional wisdom enables problem solvers to see beyond limitations and explore uncharted territories. This process not only fosters creativity but also encourages a culture of continuous improvement where learning thrives. Daring to challenge assumptions can unveil hidden opportunities and untapped potential in problem-solving scenarios, leading to breakthroughs and advancements that were previously overlooked.

• One effective technique to challenge assumptions is through brainstorming sessions that encourage participants to voice unconventional ideas without judgment.
• Additionally, adopting a beginner’s mindset can help in questioning assumptions, as newcomers often bring a fresh perspective unburdened by past biases.

Collaborating with Others

Collaborating with others in problem-solving fosters flexibility, encourages open communication, and leverages collective intelligence to navigate complex challenges, drawing on diverse perspectives and expertise to generate innovative solutions.

Effective collaboration enables individuals to combine strengths and talents, pooling resources to tackle problems that may seem insurmountable when approached individually. By working together, team members can break down barriers and silos that often hinder progress, leading to more efficient problem-solving processes and better outcomes.

Collaboration also promotes a sense of shared purpose and increases overall engagement, as team members feel valued and enableed to contribute their unique perspectives. To foster successful collaboration, it is crucial to establish clear goals, roles, and communication channels, ensuring that everyone is aligned towards a common objective.

What Are the Benefits of Overcoming These Barriers?

Overcoming the barriers to problem-solving in psychology leads to significant benefits such as improved critical thinking skills, enhanced knowledge acquisition, and the ability to address complex issues with greater creativity and adaptability.

By mastering the art of problem-solving, individuals in the field of psychology can also cultivate resilience and perseverance, two essential traits that contribute to personal growth and success.

When confronting and overcoming cognitive obstacles, individuals develop a deeper understanding of their own cognitive processes and behavioral patterns, enabling them to make informed decisions and overcome challenges more effectively.

Continuous learning and adaptability play a pivotal role in problem-solving, allowing psychologists to stay updated with the latest research, techniques, and methodologies that enhance their problem-solving capabilities.

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How Mental Sets Can Prohibit Problem Solving

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

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A mental set is a tendency to only see solutions that have worked in the past. This type of fixed thinking can make it difficult to come up with solutions and can impede the problem-solving process. For example, that you are trying to solve a math problem in algebra class. The problem seems similar to ones you have worked on previously, so you approach solving it in the same way. Because of your mental set, you may be unable to see a simpler solution that is unique to this problem.

When we are solving problems, we tend to fall back on solutions that have worked in the past. In many cases, this is a useful approach that allows us to quickly come up with answers. In some instances, however, this strategy can make it difficult to think of new ways of solving problems .

Mental sets can lead to rigid thinking and create difficulties in the problem-solving process .

Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness is a specific type of mental set where people are only able to see solutions that involve using objects in their normal or expected manner. Mental sets are definitely useful at times. By using strategies that have worked before, we are often able to quickly come up with solutions. This can save time and, in many cases, the approach does yield a correct solution.

While in many cases it is beneficial to use our past experiences to solve issues we face, it can also make it difficult to see novel or creative ways of fixing current problems. For example, imagine your vacuum cleaner has stopped working. When it has stopped working in the past, a broken belt was the culprit. Since past experience has taught you the belt is a common issue, you immediately replace the belt again. But, this time the vacuum continues to malfunction.

However, when you ask a friend to come to take a look at the vacuum, they quickly realize one of the hose attachments was not connected, causing the vacuum to lose suction. Because of your mental set, you failed to notice a fairly obvious solution to the problem.

Impact of Past Experiences

In daily life, a mental set may prevent you from solving a relatively minor problem (like figuring out what is wrong with your vacuum cleaner). On a larger scale, mental sets can prevent scientists from discovering answers to real-world problems or make it difficult for a doctor to determine the cause of an illness.

For example, a physician might see a new patient with symptoms similar to certain cases they have seen in the past, so they might diagnose this new patient with the same illness. Because of this mental set, the doctor might overlook symptoms that would actually point to a different illness altogether. Such mental sets can obviously have a dramatic impact on the health of the patient and possible outcomes.

Necka E, Kubik T. How non-experts fail where experts do not: Implications of expertise for resistance to cognitive rigidity . Studia Psychologica . 2012;54(1):3-14.

Valee-Tourangeau F, Euden G, Hearn V. Einstellung defused: Interactivity and mental set . Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology . 2011;64(10):1889-1895. doi:10.1080/17470218.2011.605151

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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6.8: Blocks to Problem Solving

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Sometimes, previous experience or familiarity can even make problem solving more difficult. This is the case whenever habitual directions get in the way of finding new directions – an effect called fixation.

Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness concerns the solution of object-use problems. The basic idea is that when the usual way of using an object is emphasised, it will be far more difficult for a person to use that object in a novel manner. An example for this effect is the candle problem : Imagine you are given a box of matches, some candles and tacks. On the wall of the room there is a cork- board. Your task is to fix the candle to the cork-board in such a way that no wax will drop on the floor when the candle is lit. – Got an idea?

Explanation: The clue is just the following: when people are confronted with a problem

and given certain objects to solve it, it is difficult for them to figure out that they could use them in a different (not so familiar or obvious) way. In this example the box has to be recognized as a support rather than as a container.

A further example is the two-string problem: Knut is left in a room with a chair and a pair of pliers given the task to bind two strings together that are hanging from the ceiling. The problem he faces is that he can never reach both strings at a time because they are just too far away from each other. What can Knut do?

Solution: Knut has to recognize he can use the pliers in a novel function – as weight for a pendulum. He can bind them to one of the strings, push it away, hold the other string and just wait for the first one moving towards him. If necessary, Knut can even climb on the chair, but he is not that small, we suppose…

Mental Fixedness

Functional fixedness as involved in the examples above illustrates a mental set - a person’s tendency to respond to a given task in a manner based on past experience. Because Knut maps an object to a particular function he has difficulties to vary the way of use (pliers as pendulum's weight). One approach to studying fixation was to study wrong-answer verbal insight problems. It was shown that people tend to give rather an incorrect answer when failing to solve a problem than to give no answer at all.

A typical example: People are told that on a lake the area covered by water lilies doubles every 24 hours and that it takes 60 days to cover the whole lake. Then they are asked how many days it takes to cover half the lake. The typical response is '30 days' (whereas 59 days is correct).

These wrong solutions are due to an inaccurate interpretation, hence representation, of the problem. This can happen because of sloppiness (a quick shallow reading of the problemand/or weak monitoring of their efforts made to come to a solution). In this case error feedback should help people to reconsider the problem features, note the inadequacy of their first answer, and find the correct solution. If, however, people are truly fixated on their incorrect representation, being told the answer is wrong does not help. In a study made by P.I. Dallop and R.L. Dominowski in 1992 these two possibilities were contrasted. In approximately one third of the cases error feedback led to right answers, so only approximately one third of the wrong answers were due to inadequate monitoring. [6] Another approach is the study of examples with and without a preceding analogous task. In cases such like the water-jug task analogous thinking indeed leads to a correct solution, but to take a different way might make the case much simpler:

Imagine Knut again, this time he is given three jugs with different capacities and is asked to measure the required amount of water. Of course he is not allowed to use anything despite the jugs and as much water as he likes. In the first case the sizes are 127 litres, 21 litres and 3 litres while 100 litres are desired. In the second case Knut is asked to measure 18 litres from jugs of 39, 15 and three litres size.

In fact participants faced with the 100 litre task first choose a complicate way in order tosolve the second one. Others on the contrary who did not know about that complex task solved the 18 litre case by just adding three litres to 15.

Pitfalls to Problem Solving

Not all problems are successfully solved, however. What challenges stop us from successfully solving a problem? Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Imagine a person in a room that has four doorways. One doorway that has always been open in the past is now locked. The person, accustomed to exiting the room by that particular doorway, keeps trying to get out through the same doorway even though the other three doorways are open. The person is stuck—but she just needs to go to another doorway, instead of trying to get out through the locked doorway. A mental set is where you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past but is clearly not working now. Functional fixedness is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. During the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, NASA engineers at Mission Control had to overcome functional fixedness to save the lives of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. An explosion in a module of the spacecraft damaged multiple systems. The astronauts were in danger of being poisoned by rising levels of carbon dioxide because of problems with the carbon dioxide filters. The engineers found a way for the astronauts to use spare plastic bags, tape, and air hoses to create a makeshift air filter, which saved the lives of the astronauts.

Link to Learning

Check out this Apollo 13 scene where the group of NASA engineers are given the task of overcoming functional fixedness.

Researchers have investigated whether functional fixedness is affected by culture. In one experiment, individuals from the Shuar group in Ecuador were asked to use an object for a purpose other than that for which the object was originally intended. For example, the participants were told a story about a bear and a rabbit that were separated by a river and asked to select among various objects, including a spoon, a cup, erasers, and so on, to help the animals. The spoon was the only object long enough to span the imaginary river, but if the spoon was presented in a way that reflected its normal usage, it took participants longer to choose the spoon to solve the problem. (German & Barrett, 2005). The researchers wanted to know if exposure to highly specialized tools, as occurs with individuals in industrialized nations, affects their ability to transcend functional fixedness. It was determined that functional fixedness is experienced in both industrialized and non-industrialized cultures (German & Barrett, 2005).

Common obstacles to solving problems

The example also illustrates two common problems that sometimes happen during problem solving. One of these is functional fixedness : a tendency to regard the functions of objects and ideas as fixed (German & Barrett, 2005). Over time, we get so used to one particular purpose for an object that we overlook other uses. We may think of a dictionary, for example, as necessarily something to verify spellings and definitions, but it also can function as a gift, a doorstop, or a footstool. For students working on the nine-dot matrix described in the last section, the notion of “drawing” a line was also initially fixed; they assumed it to be connecting dots but not extending lines beyond the dots. Functional fixedness sometimes is also called response set , the tendency for a person to frame or think about each problem in a series in the same way as the previous problem, even when doing so is not appropriate to later problems. In the example of the nine-dot matrix described above, students often tried one solution after another, but each solution was constrained by a set response not to extend any line beyond the matrix.

Functional fixedness and the response set are obstacles in problem representation , the way that a person understands and organizes information provided in a problem. If information is misunderstood or used inappropriately, then mistakes are likely—if indeed the problem can be solved at all. With the nine-dot matrix problem, for example, construing the instruction to draw four lines as meaning “draw four lines entirely within the matrix” means that the problem simply could not be solved. For another, consider this problem: “The number of water lilies on a lake doubles each day. Each water lily covers exactly one square foot. If it takes 100 days for the lilies to cover the lake exactly, how many days does it take for the lilies to cover exactly half of the lake?” If you think that the size of the lilies affects the solution to this problem, you have not represented the problem correctly. Information about lily size is not relevant to the solution, and only serves to distract from the truly crucial information, the fact that the lilies double their coverage each day. (The answer, incidentally, is that the lake is half covered in 99 days; can you think why?)

Problem Solving Best Practices

The scenario: Your business is going through some challenges and you called a meeting with your colleagues to problem solve and get to a solution fast. You are well prepared, you have set an agenda, presented the problem statement and now you are asking your colleagues to brainstorm. What was supposed to be a productive meeting turns quickly into a foggy swamp, where your colleagues are at turns disengaged, annoyed, or shooting down proposed ideas.

Why do you think this happens? There are several reasons behind this and most have to do with our mental attitude and the problem-solving techniques we employ. In this series, we explore the barriers to and the best methods for effective problem solving and what skills differentiate good problem solvers.

Here are the most common barriers to successful problem solving:

• Confirmation Bias: The tendency to only search for or interpret information that confirms a person's existing ideas. People misinterpret or disregard data that doesn't align with their beliefs.
• Mental Set: People's inclination to solve problems using the same tactics they have used to solve past problems. While this can sometimes be a useful strategy, it often limits inventiveness and creativity.
• Functional Fixedness: This is another form of narrow thinking, where people become "stuck" thinking in a certain way and are unable to be flexible or change perspective.
• Unnecessary Constraints: When people are overwhelmed with a problem, they can invent and impose additional limits on solution avenues.
• Groupthink: Be wary of the tendency for group members to agree with each other — this might be out of conflict avoidance, choosing a path of least resistance, or fear of speaking up. While this agreeableness might make meetings run smoothly, it can stunt creativity and idea generation, therefore limiting the success of your chosen solution.
• Irrelevant Information: The tendency to pile on multiple problems and factors that may not even be related to the challenge at hand. This can cloud the team's ability to find direct, targeted solutions.

These barriers are examples of mental rigidity. You may have heard these examples appear in the form of common phrases like 'We've never done it before,' or 'We've always done it this way.' This rigidity is a natural human response. Our brain likes repetition and continuity and it will resist addressing challenges if this requires a fundamental change.

The key for anyone looking to become a master problem solver is to focus on the content (i.e., writing a good problem statement and good problem-solving techniques) and the context (e.g., the mindset of those involved as well as one's own).

Let's start with the problem statement. A problem statement is a statement of a current issue or challenge that requires timely action and a long-term resolution. A good problem statement has the following characteristics:

• Concise and Clear - It explains concisely an issue needing resolution or a current condition that needs improvement. It also identifies what our desired state would be.
• Free from Bias - The statement is as free as possible from bias, focusing only on the problem's facts and leaving out any subjective opinions.
• Well Structured - It should make explicit the who, what, when, where and why of the issue so that anyone reading can quickly make sense of the current situation.
• Focused on Business Impact -  The problem statement should clarify the consequences of action or inaction. That way, the reader can quickly assess the risk associated with the problem at hand.

An old saying declares that “ a problem well stated is a problem half solved .” While that may be somewhat optimistic, having the right pieces in place certainly helps.

Our next article will cover the best problem-solving techniques that you can use when working with a team.

For additional information on how to develop your problem solving skills, email us at [email protected] .

Image Courtesy of Pexels . 

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IResearchNet

Problem Solving

Problem solving, a fundamental cognitive process deeply rooted in psychology, plays a pivotal role in various aspects of human existence, especially within educational contexts. This article delves into the nature of problem solving, exploring its theoretical underpinnings, the cognitive and psychological processes that underlie it, and the application of problem-solving skills within educational settings and the broader real world. With a focus on both theory and practice, this article underscores the significance of cultivating problem-solving abilities as a cornerstone of cognitive development and innovation, shedding light on its applications in fields ranging from education to clinical psychology and beyond, thereby paving the way for future research and intervention in this critical domain of human cognition.

Introduction

Problem solving, a quintessential cognitive process deeply embedded in the domains of psychology and education, serves as a linchpin for human intellectual development and adaptation to the ever-evolving challenges of the world. The fundamental capacity to identify, analyze, and surmount obstacles is intrinsic to human nature and has been a subject of profound interest for psychologists, educators, and researchers alike. This article aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of problem solving, investigating its theoretical foundations, cognitive intricacies, and practical applications in educational contexts. With a clear understanding of its multifaceted nature, we will elucidate the pivotal role that problem solving plays in enhancing learning, fostering creativity, and promoting cognitive growth, setting the stage for a detailed examination of its significance in both psychology and education. In the continuum of psychological research and educational practice, problem solving stands as a cornerstone, enabling individuals to navigate the complexities of their world. This article’s thesis asserts that problem solving is not merely a cognitive skill but a dynamic process with profound implications for intellectual growth and application in diverse real-world contexts.

The Nature of Problem Solving

Problem solving, within the realm of psychology, refers to the cognitive process through which individuals identify, analyze, and resolve challenges or obstacles to achieve a desired goal. It encompasses a range of mental activities, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and decision-making, aimed at devising effective solutions in the face of uncertainty or complexity.

Problem solving as a subject of inquiry has drawn from various theoretical perspectives, each offering unique insights into its nature. Among the seminal theories, Gestalt psychology has highlighted the role of insight and restructuring in problem solving, emphasizing that individuals often reorganize their mental representations to attain solutions. Information processing theories, inspired by computer models, emphasize the systematic and step-by-step nature of problem solving, likening it to information retrieval and manipulation. Furthermore, cognitive psychology has provided a comprehensive framework for understanding problem solving by examining the underlying cognitive processes involved, such as attention, memory, and decision-making. These theoretical foundations collectively offer a richer comprehension of how humans engage in and approach problem-solving tasks.

Problem solving is not a monolithic process but a series of interrelated stages that individuals progress through. These stages are integral to the overall problem-solving process, and they include:

• Problem Representation: At the outset, individuals must clearly define and represent the problem they face. This involves grasping the nature of the problem, identifying its constraints, and understanding the relationships between various elements.
• Goal Setting: Setting a clear and attainable goal is essential for effective problem solving. This step involves specifying the desired outcome or solution and establishing criteria for success.
• Solution Generation: In this stage, individuals generate potential solutions to the problem. This often involves brainstorming, creative thinking, and the exploration of different strategies to overcome the obstacles presented by the problem.
• Solution Evaluation: After generating potential solutions, individuals must evaluate these alternatives to determine their feasibility and effectiveness. This involves comparing solutions, considering potential consequences, and making choices based on the criteria established in the goal-setting phase.

These components collectively form the roadmap for navigating the terrain of problem solving and provide a structured approach to addressing challenges effectively. Understanding these stages is crucial for both researchers studying problem solving and educators aiming to foster problem-solving skills in learners.

Cognitive and Psychological Aspects of Problem Solving

Problem solving is intricately tied to a range of cognitive processes, each contributing to the effectiveness of the problem-solving endeavor.

• Perception: Perception serves as the initial gateway in problem solving. It involves the gathering and interpretation of sensory information from the environment. Effective perception allows individuals to identify relevant cues and patterns within a problem, aiding in problem representation and understanding.
• Memory: Memory is crucial in problem solving as it enables the retrieval of relevant information from past experiences, learned strategies, and knowledge. Working memory, in particular, helps individuals maintain and manipulate information while navigating through the various stages of problem solving.
• Reasoning: Reasoning encompasses logical and critical thinking processes that guide the generation and evaluation of potential solutions. Deductive and inductive reasoning, as well as analogical reasoning, play vital roles in identifying relationships and formulating hypotheses.

While problem solving is a universal cognitive function, individuals differ in their problem-solving skills due to various factors.

• Intelligence: Intelligence, as measured by IQ or related assessments, significantly influences problem-solving abilities. Higher levels of intelligence are often associated with better problem-solving performance, as individuals with greater cognitive resources can process information more efficiently and effectively.
• Creativity: Creativity is a crucial factor in problem solving, especially in situations that require innovative solutions. Creative individuals tend to approach problems with fresh perspectives, making novel connections and generating unconventional solutions.
• Expertise: Expertise in a specific domain enhances problem-solving abilities within that domain. Experts possess a wealth of knowledge and experience, allowing them to recognize patterns and solutions more readily. However, expertise can sometimes lead to domain-specific biases or difficulties in adapting to new problem types.

Despite the cognitive processes and individual differences that contribute to effective problem solving, individuals often encounter barriers that impede their progress. Recognizing and overcoming these barriers is crucial for successful problem solving.

• Functional Fixedness: Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits problem solving by causing individuals to perceive objects or concepts only in their traditional or “fixed” roles. Overcoming functional fixedness requires the ability to see alternative uses and functions for objects or ideas.
• Confirmation Bias: Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. This bias can hinder objective evaluation of potential solutions, as individuals may favor information that aligns with their initial perspectives.
• Mental Sets: Mental sets are cognitive frameworks or problem-solving strategies that individuals habitually use. While mental sets can be helpful in certain contexts, they can also limit creativity and flexibility when faced with new problems. Recognizing and breaking out of mental sets is essential for overcoming this barrier.

Understanding these cognitive processes, individual differences, and common obstacles provides valuable insights into the intricacies of problem solving and offers a foundation for improving problem-solving skills and strategies in both educational and practical settings.

Problem Solving in Educational Settings

Problem solving holds a central position in educational psychology, as it is a fundamental skill that empowers students to navigate the complexities of the learning process and prepares them for real-world challenges. It goes beyond rote memorization and standardized testing, allowing students to apply critical thinking, creativity, and analytical skills to authentic problems. Problem-solving tasks in educational settings range from solving mathematical equations to tackling complex issues in subjects like science, history, and literature. These tasks not only bolster subject-specific knowledge but also cultivate transferable skills that extend beyond the classroom.

Problem-solving skills offer numerous advantages to both educators and students. For teachers, integrating problem-solving tasks into the curriculum allows for more engaging and dynamic instruction, fostering a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Additionally, it provides educators with insights into students’ thought processes and areas where additional support may be needed. Students, on the other hand, benefit from the development of critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and creativity. These skills are transferable to various life situations, enhancing students’ abilities to solve complex real-world problems and adapt to a rapidly changing society.

Teaching problem-solving skills is a dynamic process that requires effective pedagogical approaches. In K-12 education, educators often use methods such as the problem-based learning (PBL) approach, where students work on open-ended, real-world problems, fostering self-directed learning and collaboration. Higher education institutions, on the other hand, employ strategies like case-based learning, simulations, and design thinking to promote problem solving within specialized disciplines. Additionally, educators use scaffolding techniques to provide support and guidance as students develop their problem-solving abilities. In both K-12 and higher education, a key component is metacognition, which helps students become aware of their thought processes and adapt their problem-solving strategies as needed.

Assessing problem-solving abilities in educational settings involves a combination of formative and summative assessments. Formative assessments, including classroom discussions, peer evaluations, and self-assessments, provide ongoing feedback and opportunities for improvement. Summative assessments may include standardized tests designed to evaluate problem-solving skills within a particular subject area. Performance-based assessments, such as essays, projects, and presentations, offer a holistic view of students’ problem-solving capabilities. Rubrics and scoring guides are often used to ensure consistency in assessment, allowing educators to measure not only the correctness of answers but also the quality of the problem-solving process. The evolving field of educational technology has also introduced computer-based simulations and adaptive learning platforms, enabling precise measurement and tailored feedback on students’ problem-solving performance.

Understanding the pivotal role of problem solving in educational psychology, the diverse pedagogical strategies for teaching it, and the methods for assessing and measuring problem-solving abilities equips educators and students with the tools necessary to thrive in educational environments and beyond. Problem solving remains a cornerstone of 21st-century education, preparing students to meet the complex challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Applications and Practical Implications

Problem solving is not confined to the classroom; it extends its influence to various real-world contexts, showcasing its relevance and impact. In business, problem solving is the driving force behind product development, process improvement, and conflict resolution. For instance, companies often use problem-solving methodologies like Six Sigma to identify and rectify issues in manufacturing. In healthcare, medical professionals employ problem-solving skills to diagnose complex illnesses and devise treatment plans. Additionally, technology advancements frequently stem from creative problem solving, as engineers and developers tackle challenges in software, hardware, and systems design. Real-world problem solving transcends specific domains, as individuals in diverse fields address multifaceted issues by drawing upon their cognitive abilities and creative problem-solving strategies.

Clinical psychology recognizes the profound therapeutic potential of problem-solving techniques. Problem-solving therapy (PST) is an evidence-based approach that focuses on helping individuals develop effective strategies for coping with emotional and interpersonal challenges. PST equips individuals with the skills to define problems, set realistic goals, generate solutions, and evaluate their effectiveness. This approach has shown efficacy in treating conditions like depression, anxiety, and stress, emphasizing the role of problem-solving abilities in enhancing emotional well-being. Furthermore, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) incorporates problem-solving elements to help individuals challenge and modify dysfunctional thought patterns, reinforcing the importance of cognitive processes in addressing psychological distress.

Problem solving is the bedrock of innovation and creativity in various fields. Innovators and creative thinkers use problem-solving skills to identify unmet needs, devise novel solutions, and overcome obstacles. Design thinking, a problem-solving approach, is instrumental in product design, architecture, and user experience design, fostering innovative solutions grounded in human needs. Moreover, creative industries like art, literature, and music rely on problem-solving abilities to transcend conventional boundaries and produce groundbreaking works. By exploring alternative perspectives, making connections, and persistently seeking solutions, creative individuals harness problem-solving processes to ignite innovation and drive progress in all facets of human endeavor.

Understanding the practical applications of problem solving in business, healthcare, technology, and its therapeutic significance in clinical psychology, as well as its indispensable role in nurturing innovation and creativity, underscores its universal value. Problem solving is not only a cognitive skill but also a dynamic force that shapes and improves the world we inhabit, enhancing the quality of life and promoting progress and discovery.

In summary, problem solving stands as an indispensable cornerstone within the domains of psychology and education. This article has explored the multifaceted nature of problem solving, from its theoretical foundations rooted in Gestalt psychology, information processing theories, and cognitive psychology to its integral components of problem representation, goal setting, solution generation, and solution evaluation. It has delved into the cognitive processes underpinning effective problem solving, including perception, memory, and reasoning, as well as the impact of individual differences such as intelligence, creativity, and expertise. Common barriers to problem solving, including functional fixedness, confirmation bias, and mental sets, have been examined in-depth.

The significance of problem solving in educational settings was elucidated, underscoring its pivotal role in fostering critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. Pedagogical approaches and assessment methods were discussed, providing educators with insights into effective strategies for teaching and evaluating problem-solving skills in K-12 and higher education.

Furthermore, the practical implications of problem solving were demonstrated in the real world, where it serves as the driving force behind advancements in business, healthcare, and technology. In clinical psychology, problem-solving therapies offer effective interventions for emotional and psychological well-being. The symbiotic relationship between problem solving and innovation and creativity was explored, highlighting the role of this cognitive process in pushing the boundaries of human accomplishment.

As we conclude, it is evident that problem solving is not merely a skill but a dynamic process with profound implications. It enables individuals to navigate the complexities of their environment, fostering intellectual growth, adaptability, and innovation. Future research in the field of problem solving should continue to explore the intricate cognitive processes involved, individual differences that influence problem-solving abilities, and innovative teaching methods in educational settings. In practice, educators and clinicians should continue to incorporate problem-solving strategies to empower individuals with the tools necessary for success in education, personal development, and the ever-evolving challenges of the real world. Problem solving remains a steadfast ally in the pursuit of knowledge, progress, and the enhancement of human potential.

References:

• Anderson, J. R. (1995). Cognitive psychology and its implications. W. H. Freeman.
• Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 2, pp. 89-195). Academic Press.
• Duncker, K. (1945). On problem-solving. Psychological Monographs, 58(5), i-113.
• Gick, M. L., & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306-355.
• Jonassen, D. H., & Hung, W. (2008). All problems are not equal: Implications for problem-based learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 2(2), 6.
• Kitchener, K. S., & King, P. M. (1981). Reflective judgment: Concepts of justification and their relation to age and education. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2(2), 89-116.
• Luchins, A. S. (1942). Mechanization in problem solving: The effect of Einstellung. Psychological Monographs, 54(6), i-95.
• Mayer, R. E. (1992). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. W. H. Freeman.
• Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving (Vol. 104). Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
• Osborn, A. F. (1953). Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem solving (3rd ed.). Charles Scribner’s Sons.
• Polya, G. (1945). How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical method. Princeton University Press.
• Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. Cambridge University Press.

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Problem-solving and decision making

Problem-solving refers to a way of reaching a goal from a present condition, where the present condition is either not directly moving toward the goal, is far from it, or needs more complex logic in order to find steps toward the goal.

Types of problem-solving

There are considered to be two major domains in problem-solving : mathematical problem solving, which involves problems capable of being represented by symbols, and personal problem solving, where some difficulty or barrier is encountered.

Within these domains of problem-solving, there are a number of approaches that can be taken. A person may decide to take a trial and error approach and try different approaches to see which one works the best. Or they may decide to use an algorithm approach following a set of rules and steps to find the correct approach. A heuristic approach can also be taken where a person uses previous experiences to inform their approach to problem-solving.

Barriers to effective problem solving 

Barriers exist to problem-solving they can be categorized by their features and tasks required to overcome them.

The mental set is a barrier to problem-solving. The mental set is an unconscious tendency to approach a problem in a particular way. Our mental sets are shaped by our past experiences and habits. Functional fixedness is a special type of mindset that occurs when the intended purpose of an object hinders a person’s ability to see its potential other uses.

The unnecessary constraint is a barrier that shows up in problem-solving that causes people to unconsciously place boundaries on the task at hand.

Irrelevant information is a barrier when information is presented as part of a problem, but which is unrelated or unimportant to that problem and will not help solve it. Typically, it detracts from the problem-solving process, as it may seem pertinent and distract people from finding the most efficient solution.

Confirmation bias is a barrier to problem-solving. This exists when a person has a tendency to look for information that supports their idea or approach instead of looking at new information that may contradict their approach or ideas.

Strategies for problem-solving

There are many strategies that can make solving a problem easier and more efficient. Two of them, algorithms and heuristics, are of particularly great psychological importance.

A heuristic is a rule of thumb, a strategy, or a mental shortcut that generally works for solving a problem (particularly decision-making problems). It is a practical method, one that is not a hundred per cent guaranteed to be optimal or even successful, but is sufficient for the immediate goal. Working backwards is a useful heuristic in which you begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result. Another useful heuristic is the practice of accomplishing a large goal or task by breaking it into a series of smaller steps.

An algorithm is a series of sets of steps for solving a problem. Unlike a heuristic, you are guaranteed to get the correct solution to the problem; however, an algorithm may not necessarily be the most efficient way of solving the problem. Additionally, you need to know the algorithm (i.e., the complete set of steps), which is not usually realistic for the problems of daily life.

Biases can affect problem-solving ability by directing a problem-solving heuristic or algorithm based on prior experience.

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. Sometimes, however, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. There are several forms of bias which can inform our decision-making process and problem-solving ability:

Anchoring bias -Tendency to focus on one particular piece of information when making decisions or problem-solving

Confirmation bias – Focuses on information that confirms existing beliefs

Hindsight bias – Belief that the event just experienced was predictable

Representative bias – Unintentional stereotyping of someone or something

Availability bias – Decision is based upon either an available precedent or an example that may be faulty

Belief bias – casting judgment on issues using what someone believes about their conclusion. A good example is belief perseverance which is the tendency to hold on to pre-existing beliefs, despite being presented with evidence that is contradictory.

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MCAT Official Prep (AAMC)

Sample Test P/S Section Passage 3 Question 12

Practice Exam 2 P/S Section Passage 8 Question 40

Practice Exam 2 P/S Section Passage 8 Question 42

Practice Exam 4 P/S Section Question 12

• Problem-solving can be considered when a person is presented with two types of problems – mathematical or personal

• Barriers exist to problem-solving maybe because of the mental set of the person, constraints on their thoughts or being presented with irrelevant information

• People can typically employ a number of strategies in problem-solving such as heuristics, where a general problem-solving method is applied to a problem or an algorithm can be applied which is a set of steps to solving a problem without a guaranteed result

• Biases can affect problem-solving ability by directing a problem-solving heuristic or algorithm based on prior experience.

Mental set: an unconscious tendency to approach a problem in a particular way

Problem : the difference between the current situation and a goal

Algorithm: problem-solving strategy characterized by a specific set of instructions

Anchoring bias: faulty heuristic in which you fixate on a single aspect of a problem to find a solution

Availability bias : faulty heuristic in which you make a decision based on information readily available to you

Confirmation bias : faulty heuristic in which you focus on information that confirms your beliefs

Functional fixedness: inability to see an object as useful for any other use other than the one for which it was intended

Heuristic : mental shortcut that saves time when solving a problem

Hindsight bias : belief that the event just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t

Problem-solving strategy : a method for solving problems

Representative bias:  faulty heuristic in which you stereotype someone or something without a valid basis for your judgment

Working backwards: heuristic in which you begin to solve a problem by focusing on the end result

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7.3 Problem-Solving

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe problem solving strategies
• Define algorithm and heuristic
• Explain some common roadblocks to effective problem solving

   People face problems every day—usually, multiple problems throughout the day. Sometimes these problems are straightforward: To double a recipe for pizza dough, for example, all that is required is that each ingredient in the recipe be doubled. Sometimes, however, the problems we encounter are more complex. For example, say you have a work deadline, and you must mail a printed copy of a report to your supervisor by the end of the business day. The report is time-sensitive and must be sent overnight. You finished the report last night, but your printer will not work today. What should you do? First, you need to identify the problem and then apply a strategy for solving the problem.

The study of human and animal problem solving processes has provided much insight toward the understanding of our conscious experience and led to advancements in computer science and artificial intelligence. Essentially much of cognitive science today represents studies of how we consciously and unconsciously make decisions and solve problems. For instance, when encountered with a large amount of information, how do we go about making decisions about the most efficient way of sorting and analyzing all the information in order to find what you are looking for as in visual search paradigms in cognitive psychology. Or in a situation where a piece of machinery is not working properly, how do we go about organizing how to address the issue and understand what the cause of the problem might be. How do we sort the procedures that will be needed and focus attention on what is important in order to solve problems efficiently. Within this section we will discuss some of these issues and examine processes related to human, animal and computer problem solving.

PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES

   When people are presented with a problem—whether it is a complex mathematical problem or a broken printer, how do you solve it? Before finding a solution to the problem, the problem must first be clearly identified. After that, one of many problem solving strategies can be applied, hopefully resulting in a solution.

Problems themselves can be classified into two different categories known as ill-defined and well-defined problems (Schacter, 2009). Ill-defined problems represent issues that do not have clear goals, solution paths, or expected solutions whereas well-defined problems have specific goals, clearly defined solutions, and clear expected solutions. Problem solving often incorporates pragmatics (logical reasoning) and semantics (interpretation of meanings behind the problem), and also in many cases require abstract thinking and creativity in order to find novel solutions. Within psychology, problem solving refers to a motivational drive for reading a definite “goal” from a present situation or condition that is either not moving toward that goal, is distant from it, or requires more complex logical analysis for finding a missing description of conditions or steps toward that goal. Processes relating to problem solving include problem finding also known as problem analysis, problem shaping where the organization of the problem occurs, generating alternative strategies, implementation of attempted solutions, and verification of the selected solution. Various methods of studying problem solving exist within the field of psychology including introspection, behavior analysis and behaviorism, simulation, computer modeling, and experimentation.

A problem-solving strategy is a plan of action used to find a solution. Different strategies have different action plans associated with them (table below). For example, a well-known strategy is trial and error. The old adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” describes trial and error. In terms of your broken printer, you could try checking the ink levels, and if that doesn’t work, you could check to make sure the paper tray isn’t jammed. Or maybe the printer isn’t actually connected to your laptop. When using trial and error, you would continue to try different solutions until you solved your problem. Although trial and error is not typically one of the most time-efficient strategies, it is a commonly used one.

   Another type of strategy is an algorithm. An algorithm is a problem-solving formula that provides you with step-by-step instructions used to achieve a desired outcome (Kahneman, 2011). You can think of an algorithm as a recipe with highly detailed instructions that produce the same result every time they are performed. Algorithms are used frequently in our everyday lives, especially in computer science. When you run a search on the Internet, search engines like Google use algorithms to decide which entries will appear first in your list of results. Facebook also uses algorithms to decide which posts to display on your newsfeed. Can you identify other situations in which algorithms are used?

A heuristic is another type of problem solving strategy. While an algorithm must be followed exactly to produce a correct result, a heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. A “rule of thumb” is an example of a heuristic. Such a rule saves the person time and energy when making a decision, but despite its time-saving characteristics, it is not always the best method for making a rational decision. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, but the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

• When one is faced with too much information
• When the time to make a decision is limited
• When the decision to be made is unimportant
• When there is access to very little information to use in making the decision
• When an appropriate heuristic happens to come to mind in the same moment

Working backwards is a useful heuristic in which you begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result. Consider this example: You live in Washington, D.C. and have been invited to a wedding at 4 PM on Saturday in Philadelphia. Knowing that Interstate 95 tends to back up any day of the week, you need to plan your route and time your departure accordingly. If you want to be at the wedding service by 3:30 PM, and it takes 2.5 hours to get to Philadelphia without traffic, what time should you leave your house? You use the working backwards heuristic to plan the events of your day on a regular basis, probably without even thinking about it.

Another useful heuristic is the practice of accomplishing a large goal or task by breaking it into a series of smaller steps. Students often use this common method to complete a large research project or long essay for school. For example, students typically brainstorm, develop a thesis or main topic, research the chosen topic, organize their information into an outline, write a rough draft, revise and edit the rough draft, develop a final draft, organize the references list, and proofread their work before turning in the project. The large task becomes less overwhelming when it is broken down into a series of small steps.

Further problem solving strategies have been identified (listed below) that incorporate flexible and creative thinking in order to reach solutions efficiently.

Additional Problem Solving Strategies :

• Abstraction – refers to solving the problem within a model of the situation before applying it to reality.
• Analogy – is using a solution that solves a similar problem.
• Brainstorming – refers to collecting an analyzing a large amount of solutions, especially within a group of people, to combine the solutions and developing them until an optimal solution is reached.
• Divide and conquer – breaking down large complex problems into smaller more manageable problems.
• Hypothesis testing – method used in experimentation where an assumption about what would happen in response to manipulating an independent variable is made, and analysis of the affects of the manipulation are made and compared to the original hypothesis.
• Lateral thinking – approaching problems indirectly and creatively by viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.
• Means-ends analysis – choosing and analyzing an action at a series of smaller steps to move closer to the goal.
• Method of focal objects – putting seemingly non-matching characteristics of different procedures together to make something new that will get you closer to the goal.
• Morphological analysis – analyzing the outputs of and interactions of many pieces that together make up a whole system.
• Proof – trying to prove that a problem cannot be solved. Where the proof fails becomes the starting point or solving the problem.
• Reduction – adapting the problem to be as similar problems where a solution exists.
• Research – using existing knowledge or solutions to similar problems to solve the problem.
• Root cause analysis – trying to identify the cause of the problem.

The strategies listed above outline a short summary of methods we use in working toward solutions and also demonstrate how the mind works when being faced with barriers preventing goals to be reached.

One example of means-end analysis can be found by using the Tower of Hanoi paradigm . This paradigm can be modeled as a word problems as demonstrated by the Missionary-Cannibal Problem :

Missionary-Cannibal Problem

Three missionaries and three cannibals are on one side of a river and need to cross to the other side. The only means of crossing is a boat, and the boat can only hold two people at a time. Your goal is to devise a set of moves that will transport all six of the people across the river, being in mind the following constraint: The number of cannibals can never exceed the number of missionaries in any location. Remember that someone will have to also row that boat back across each time.

Hint : At one point in your solution, you will have to send more people back to the original side than you just sent to the destination.

The actual Tower of Hanoi problem consists of three rods sitting vertically on a base with a number of disks of different sizes that can slide onto any rod. The puzzle starts with the disks in a neat stack in ascending order of size on one rod, the smallest at the top making a conical shape. The objective of the puzzle is to move the entire stack to another rod obeying the following rules:

• 1. Only one disk can be moved at a time.
• 2. Each move consists of taking the upper disk from one of the stacks and placing it on top of another stack or on an empty rod.
• 3. No disc may be placed on top of a smaller disk.

  Figure 7.02. Steps for solving the Tower of Hanoi in the minimum number of moves when there are 3 disks.

Figure 7.03. Graphical representation of nodes (circles) and moves (lines) of Tower of Hanoi.

The Tower of Hanoi is a frequently used psychological technique to study problem solving and procedure analysis. A variation of the Tower of Hanoi known as the Tower of London has been developed which has been an important tool in the neuropsychological diagnosis of executive function disorders and their treatment.

GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY AND PROBLEM SOLVING

As you may recall from the sensation and perception chapter, Gestalt psychology describes whole patterns, forms and configurations of perception and cognition such as closure, good continuation, and figure-ground. In addition to patterns of perception, Wolfgang Kohler, a German Gestalt psychologist traveled to the Spanish island of Tenerife in order to study animals behavior and problem solving in the anthropoid ape.

As an interesting side note to Kohler’s studies of chimp problem solving, Dr. Ronald Ley, professor of psychology at State University of New York provides evidence in his book A Whisper of Espionage  (1990) suggesting that while collecting data for what would later be his book  The Mentality of Apes (1925) on Tenerife in the Canary Islands between 1914 and 1920, Kohler was additionally an active spy for the German government alerting Germany to ships that were sailing around the Canary Islands. Ley suggests his investigations in England, Germany and elsewhere in Europe confirm that Kohler had served in the German military by building, maintaining and operating a concealed radio that contributed to Germany’s war effort acting as a strategic outpost in the Canary Islands that could monitor naval military activity approaching the north African coast.

While trapped on the island over the course of World War 1, Kohler applied Gestalt principles to animal perception in order to understand how they solve problems. He recognized that the apes on the islands also perceive relations between stimuli and the environment in Gestalt patterns and understand these patterns as wholes as opposed to pieces that make up a whole. Kohler based his theories of animal intelligence on the ability to understand relations between stimuli, and spent much of his time while trapped on the island investigation what he described as  insight , the sudden perception of useful or proper relations. In order to study insight in animals, Kohler would present problems to chimpanzee’s by hanging some banana’s or some kind of food so it was suspended higher than the apes could reach. Within the room, Kohler would arrange a variety of boxes, sticks or other tools the chimpanzees could use by combining in patterns or organizing in a way that would allow them to obtain the food (Kohler & Winter, 1925).

While viewing the chimpanzee’s, Kohler noticed one chimp that was more efficient at solving problems than some of the others. The chimp, named Sultan, was able to use long poles to reach through bars and organize objects in specific patterns to obtain food or other desirables that were originally out of reach. In order to study insight within these chimps, Kohler would remove objects from the room to systematically make the food more difficult to obtain. As the story goes, after removing many of the objects Sultan was used to using to obtain the food, he sat down ad sulked for a while, and then suddenly got up going over to two poles lying on the ground. Without hesitation Sultan put one pole inside the end of the other creating a longer pole that he could use to obtain the food demonstrating an ideal example of what Kohler described as insight. In another situation, Sultan discovered how to stand on a box to reach a banana that was suspended from the rafters illustrating Sultan’s perception of relations and the importance of insight in problem solving.

Grande (another chimp in the group studied by Kohler) builds a three-box structure to reach the bananas, while Sultan watches from the ground.  Insight , sometimes referred to as an “Ah-ha” experience, was the term Kohler used for the sudden perception of useful relations among objects during problem solving (Kohler, 1927; Radvansky & Ashcraft, 2013).

Solving puzzles.

   Problem-solving abilities can improve with practice. Many people challenge themselves every day with puzzles and other mental exercises to sharpen their problem-solving skills. Sudoku puzzles appear daily in most newspapers. Typically, a sudoku puzzle is a 9×9 grid. The simple sudoku below (see figure) is a 4×4 grid. To solve the puzzle, fill in the empty boxes with a single digit: 1, 2, 3, or 4. Here are the rules: The numbers must total 10 in each bolded box, each row, and each column; however, each digit can only appear once in a bolded box, row, and column. Time yourself as you solve this puzzle and compare your time with a classmate.

How long did it take you to solve this sudoku puzzle? (You can see the answer at the end of this section.)

   Here is another popular type of puzzle (figure below) that challenges your spatial reasoning skills. Connect all nine dots with four connecting straight lines without lifting your pencil from the paper:

Did you figure it out? (The answer is at the end of this section.) Once you understand how to crack this puzzle, you won’t forget.

   Take a look at the “Puzzling Scales” logic puzzle below (figure below). Sam Loyd, a well-known puzzle master, created and refined countless puzzles throughout his lifetime (Cyclopedia of Puzzles, n.d.).

What steps did you take to solve this puzzle? You can read the solution at the end of this section.

Pitfalls to problem solving.

   Not all problems are successfully solved, however. What challenges stop us from successfully solving a problem? Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” Imagine a person in a room that has four doorways. One doorway that has always been open in the past is now locked. The person, accustomed to exiting the room by that particular doorway, keeps trying to get out through the same doorway even though the other three doorways are open. The person is stuck—but she just needs to go to another doorway, instead of trying to get out through the locked doorway. A mental set is where you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past but is clearly not working now.

Functional fixedness is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for. During the Apollo 13 mission to the moon, NASA engineers at Mission Control had to overcome functional fixedness to save the lives of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft. An explosion in a module of the spacecraft damaged multiple systems. The astronauts were in danger of being poisoned by rising levels of carbon dioxide because of problems with the carbon dioxide filters. The engineers found a way for the astronauts to use spare plastic bags, tape, and air hoses to create a makeshift air filter, which saved the lives of the astronauts.

   Researchers have investigated whether functional fixedness is affected by culture. In one experiment, individuals from the Shuar group in Ecuador were asked to use an object for a purpose other than that for which the object was originally intended. For example, the participants were told a story about a bear and a rabbit that were separated by a river and asked to select among various objects, including a spoon, a cup, erasers, and so on, to help the animals. The spoon was the only object long enough to span the imaginary river, but if the spoon was presented in a way that reflected its normal usage, it took participants longer to choose the spoon to solve the problem. (German & Barrett, 2005). The researchers wanted to know if exposure to highly specialized tools, as occurs with individuals in industrialized nations, affects their ability to transcend functional fixedness. It was determined that functional fixedness is experienced in both industrialized and nonindustrialized cultures (German & Barrett, 2005).

In order to make good decisions, we use our knowledge and our reasoning. Often, this knowledge and reasoning is sound and solid. Sometimes, however, we are swayed by biases or by others manipulating a situation. For example, let’s say you and three friends wanted to rent a house and had a combined target budget of $1,600. The realtor shows you only very run-down houses for $1,600 and then shows you a very nice house for $2,000. Might you ask each person to pay more in rent to get the $2,000 home? Why would the realtor show you the run-down houses and the nice house? The realtor may be challenging your anchoring bias. An anchoring bias occurs when you focus on one piece of information when making a decision or solving a problem. In this case, you’re so focused on the amount of money you are willing to spend that you may not recognize what kinds of houses are available at that price point.

The confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that confirms your existing beliefs. For example, if you think that your professor is not very nice, you notice all of the instances of rude behavior exhibited by the professor while ignoring the countless pleasant interactions he is involved in on a daily basis. Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Representative bias describes a faulty way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something; for example, you may assume that your professors spend their free time reading books and engaging in intellectual conversation, because the idea of them spending their time playing volleyball or visiting an amusement park does not fit in with your stereotypes of professors.

Finally, the availability heuristic is a heuristic in which you make a decision based on an example, information, or recent experience that is that readily available to you, even though it may not be the best example to inform your decision . Biases tend to “preserve that which is already established—to maintain our preexisting knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and hypotheses” (Aronson, 1995; Kahneman, 2011). These biases are summarized in the table below.

Were you able to determine how many marbles are needed to balance the scales in the figure below? You need nine. Were you able to solve the problems in the figures above? Here are the answers.

   Many different strategies exist for solving problems. Typical strategies include trial and error, applying algorithms, and using heuristics. To solve a large, complicated problem, it often helps to break the problem into smaller steps that can be accomplished individually, leading to an overall solution. Roadblocks to problem solving include a mental set, functional fixedness, and various biases that can cloud decision making skills.

References:

Openstax Psychology text by Kathryn Dumper, William Jenkins, Arlene Lacombe, Marilyn Lovett and Marion Perlmutter licensed under CC BY v4.0. https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology

Review Questions:

1. A specific formula for solving a problem is called ________.

a. an algorithm

b. a heuristic

c. a mental set

d. trial and error

2. Solving the Tower of Hanoi problem tends to utilize a  ________ strategy of problem solving.

a. divide and conquer

b. means-end analysis

d. experiment

3. A mental shortcut in the form of a general problem-solving framework is called ________.

4. Which type of bias involves becoming fixated on a single trait of a problem?

a. anchoring bias

b. confirmation bias

c. representative bias

d. availability bias

5. Which type of bias involves relying on a false stereotype to make a decision?

6. Wolfgang Kohler analyzed behavior of chimpanzees by applying Gestalt principles to describe ________.

a. social adjustment

b. student load payment options

c. emotional learning

d. insight learning

7. ________ is a type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for.

a. functional fixedness

c. working memory

Critical Thinking Questions:

1. What is functional fixedness and how can overcoming it help you solve problems?

2. How does an algorithm save you time and energy when solving a problem?

Personal Application Question:

1. Which type of bias do you recognize in your own decision making processes? How has this bias affected how you’ve made decisions in the past and how can you use your awareness of it to improve your decisions making skills in the future?

anchoring bias

availability heuristic

confirmation bias

functional fixedness

hindsight bias

problem-solving strategy

representative bias

trial and error

working backwards

Answers to Exercises

algorithm:  problem-solving strategy characterized by a specific set of instructions

anchoring bias:  faulty heuristic in which you fixate on a single aspect of a problem to find a solution

availability heuristic:  faulty heuristic in which you make a decision based on information readily available to you

confirmation bias:  faulty heuristic in which you focus on information that confirms your beliefs

functional fixedness:  inability to see an object as useful for any other use other than the one for which it was intended

heuristic:  mental shortcut that saves time when solving a problem

hindsight bias:  belief that the event just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t

mental set:  continually using an old solution to a problem without results

problem-solving strategy:  method for solving problems

representative bias:  faulty heuristic in which you stereotype someone or something without a valid basis for your judgment

trial and error:  problem-solving strategy in which multiple solutions are attempted until the correct one is found

working backwards:  heuristic in which you begin to solve a problem by focusing on the end result

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Mental Block:

A mental block refers to a temporary psychological barrier that prevents a person from accessing or recalling information or performing a particular task.

Mental blocks can arise due to various factors such as:

• Stress: Excessive stress or pressure can hinder cognitive functioning and lead to mental blocks.
• Anxiety: Intense anxiety or fear can disrupt focus and make it difficult to retrieve information or complete a task.
• Trauma: Past traumatic experiences can create mental barriers and interfere with cognitive processes.
• Overthinking: Constantly analyzing or overanalyzing a situation can overwhelm the mind and cause mental blocks.
• Lack of Confidence: Low self-esteem or lack of confidence can create self-imposed mental blocks, limiting one’s abilities.

Signs and Symptoms:

Common signs of a mental block include:

• Memory lapses: Difficulty in recalling specific details or information that is normally familiar.
• Impaired problem-solving: Inability to find solutions or think critically about a particular issue.
• Procrastination: Delaying or avoiding tasks that are associated with the mental block.
• Overwhelm: Feeling overwhelmed or mentally stuck when attempting to perform a specific action.
• Self-doubt: Experiencing a lack of confidence or questioning one’s abilities in a particular area.

Overcoming Mental Blocks:

Here are some strategies that can help overcome mental blocks:

• Relaxation techniques: Engaging in relaxation exercises like deep breathing or meditation can reduce stress and anxiety.
• Positive self-talk: Replacing negative thoughts with positive affirmations can boost confidence and break through mental barriers.
• Seeking support: Seeking guidance from a mentor, coach, or therapist can provide valuable insights and assistance in overcoming mental blocks.
• Breaking tasks into smaller steps: Dividing a complex task into manageable chunks can make it seem less daunting and easier to approach.
• Practicing mindfulness: Being fully present in the moment can help alleviate distractions and improve focus.
• Trying different approaches: Exploring alternative strategies or perspectives may help bypass the mental block and find a solution.

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• Int J Environ Res Public Health

Life Challenges and Barriers to Help Seeking: Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Voices of Mental Health

Lisa hellström.

1 Department of School Development and Leadership, Malmö University, 211 19 Malmö, Sweden

Linda Beckman

2 Department of Health Sciences, Public Health Science, Karlstad University, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden; [email protected]

Associated Data

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to ethical reasons.

Listening to the voices of adolescents and young adults regarding their lived experiences could be a way to identify important skills and abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that will enable youth to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Hence, the aim with the current study is to explore the experiences and understandings of the life situation among adolescents and young adults of today, by making their voices heard in regards to mental health and help-seeking behaviour. A total of 6 group interviews were conducted with 22 adolescents and young adults (13 girls and 9 boys) ages 17–25 (M = 18.6 years). Data analysis was conducted using qualitative content analysis and resulted in two categories and five subcategories. The first category, Life challenges, included views on the sources of mental health, how to manage different types of relationships, and thoughts on accepted ways to express mental health problems. The second category, The need of present adults, highlighted important aspects for seeking help, such as an expressed need to be seen and heard by adults including parents, school staff, and other professionals as well as a need for adults’ increased availability. The challenges to students’ well-being and mental health are many, and there are no simple solutions. Based on the results in this study, life skills training should include elements to enhance the development of individual coping strategies, to be applied when life feels tough and when the body is experiencing stress reactions. Further, to minimize the risk of self-stigma and the internalization of negative stereotypes and self-blame, life skills training should include elements to increase knowledge of structural factors that have effects on the life situation as well as parents, school personnel, and other important adults.

1. Introduction

The number of young people experiencing mental health problems has increased dramatically. Approximately half of all 15-year olds in Sweden report recurring psychosomatic health problems, which is higher than any other Nordic country [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. At the time of this study, a global pandemic of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected the health of people all around the world in different ways. Countries have adopted different strategies and restrictions to stop the spread, in many cases leading to isolation among adolescents and young adults, which, in turn, might worsen the already upward trend of mental illness. The long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health are under research [ 4 ]. The idea of a mental health crisis among young people is now firmly rooted in society and has been accepted by the public, politicians, officials, and practitioners who deal with young people’s health [ 5 ]. However, the state of mental health among young people is not clear-cut. While self-reported mental ill-health is increasing both nationally and internationally, levels of well-being are stable and serious psychiatric diagnoses have not increased significantly [ 6 , 7 ]. Recent research shows that 15-year-olds’ understanding of mental health (e.g., what it is, how it is manifested and where the distinction between mental health and everyday challenges should be drawn) is complex and variant [ 5 ]. Many young people also report a lack of willingness and knowledge of where to seek help if needed. Children and young people’s own voices are crucial to understanding their world and the aspects that contribute to their everyday functioning [ 8 ]. Children and young people are experts in their own lives and their voices need to be heard regarding their lived experiences in order to fully grasp the richness of their well-being experiences [ 9 ] as well as demands and everyday challenges.

Adolescence is a life period that involves many challenges and changes in different areas such as increasing academic demands, rearrangement of relationships with parents and peers, and developing one’s own personal identity [ 10 , 11 ]. According to PISA 2015 results on students’ well-being, 66% of students across OECD countries report that they worry about poor grades and 55% of students say they are very anxious for a test even if they are well prepared. In all countries, girls reported greater schoolwork-related anxiety than boys [ 12 ]. Another major concern of adolescents is relationships with peers [ 13 , 14 ]. According to Juvonen and Knifsend [ 15 ], teenagers look for strong social ties and value acceptance, care and support from others, and adolescents who feel acceptance by peers and that they are part of a school community are more likely to perform better academically and be more motivated in school. On the other hand, rejection by peers is more likely to lead to disengagement and decreasing academic achievement. Social environments are important contexts that influence how individuals behave and what they feel and think; as children grow older, the acceptance by peers becomes more important and their social relationships with parents and families are no longer perceived as so important [ 16 ]. An important social environment among young people is social media, i.e., internet applications that enable users to generate and exchange content with others (e.g., Facebook) [ 17 ]. Social media may serve as a key context through which emerging adults negotiate important developmental tasks, including identity development and maintaining social connections [ 18 ]. Previous studies among young adults (18–22 years) report associations between overall time spent on social media and ill-being [ 19 , 20 ] as well as the number of social media sites used and depression and anxiety symptoms [ 21 ]. Further, social media may function as a source of stress or reinforce negative self-evaluations through social comparisons, and heavier Facebook users are more likely to believe others are happier and have better lives [ 22 , 23 ]. Other studies highlight a multitude of positive experiences related to adolescents’ use of networked technologies. A recent large-scale survey among English 15-year-olds showed that moderate screen time is not harmful in itself but may actually be favorable in today’s connected world [ 24 ]. Despite a growing number of studies investigating the role of social media in the lives of young people, it remains unclear how various positive and negative social media experiences fit together [ 25 ].

A person’s ability to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life is manifested as psychosocial competence [ 26 ]. Psychosocial skills allow individuals to recognize, interact, influence, and relate to others and are related to positive mental health and well-being [ 26 , 27 ]. Life skills have been identified as abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour as well as an essential resource for developing psychosocial, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and resilience skills to negotiate everyday challenges [ 26 , 28 , 29 ]. Hence, the nature and definition of life skills indicate that they are likely to differ across cultures and settings. However, a core set of life skills has been suggested through health promotion research on children and adolescents. These life skills are: decision making, problem-solving, creative thinking, critical thinking, effective communication, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness, empathy, and coping with emotions and stress [ 30 ]. There is a growing demand to educate adolescents with life skills to help them deal with their everyday challenges and transition into adulthood with informed healthy choices, but there are yet few qualitative studies on this subject [ 31 ]. The concept of mental health literacy refers to “knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention” [ 32 ] (p. 182). Beyond knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders, mental health literacy includes “knowing how to seek mental health information; knowledge of risk factors and causes, of self-treatments, and of professional help available; and attitudes that promote recognition and help-seeking” [ 32 ] (p. 182). Many young people report a lack of willingness and knowledge of where to seek help if needed. Barriers to help-seeking have been identified to include a desire to handle the problem of one’s own, low mental health literacy, negative and stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness and towards help-seeking, amongst others [ 33 , 34 ].

School efforts aimed at teaching students (aged 4–18 years) about mental health and how they can manage their own and others’ ill-being (i.e., psycho-education) can reduce inward-looking mental problems [ 35 ]. However, investigating psycho-educational programmes in schools, Swedish research [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ] has found a great discrepancy between what are considered the needs of young people from the viewpoint of the programmes and from the viewpoint of young people themselves. The focus of most programmes is often on young people’s individual thoughts and emotions, while young people highlight mental health as a complex social and relational matter [ 39 ].

1.1. Previous Research on the Perception of Youth Mental Health and Help-Seeking Behaviour

Definitions of mental health from the perspectives of the general public tend to focus on adult interpretations and show a discrepancy to the broader conceptualisation made by mental health professionals [ 40 ]. Similarly, discrepancies between adult and adolescent perceptions have been documented [ 41 , 42 ]. When asking children, they often show a great interest in mental health and can articulate what they want and need when it comes to support for mental health issues [ 43 ]. Factors influencing young people’s help-seeking behaviour include confidentiality and trust within the context of seeking help, perceptions of young people’s problems as generally less important than those of adults, and a heavy emphasis on internalizing or “bottling up” feelings as a popular coping strategy [ 44 ]. A recent Australian study found that there are discrepancies between adolescent descriptions of mental health on a conceptual basis and their representations of mental health relevant to their own lives and experiences [ 45 ]. This highlights the need to explore everyday challenges as experienced by adolescents and young adults in light of the increasingly prevalent rates of self-reported mental health problems. A Greek study found that pupils (13–16 years) described mental illness in a multi-dimensional way including, for example, being in a certain state of something; doing or behaving in a certain way; having psychological problems; not knowing what is going on around them; seeing everything in black and imagining things; and not being able to do certain things [ 46 ]. Considering that concepts of mental health are complex even for adults [ 47 ], a focus on students learning to understand and appreciate seemingly opposing ideas when considering mental health and illness may be a useful first step in the endeavour to develop mental health knowledge and understanding in adolescents and, in turn, in adults [ 45 ].

When it comes to research investigating youth’s perceptions on mental health, few are conducted on non-clinical samples [ 45 ]. The considerable uncertainty regarding the state of mental health among young people in general, their own understanding, and what are successful efforts to promote mental health, emphasizes the importance of including young people without diagnosed mental illness and their perspectives in mental health research [ 48 ]. Further, little is known what life skills can be identified as important to be able to handle the demands and challenges of everyday life. Despite a growing demand to educate adolescents with life skills to help them deal with their everyday challenges and transition into adulthood with informed healthy choices, there are yet few qualitative studies on this subject [ 31 ]. Discrepancies that exist between the views of adolescents and professionals are vital to acknowledge, considering the potential influence of such differences on the effectiveness of mental health policies and programmes that are developed by professionals but aimed at youth populations [ 45 ]. As young people’s actions are grounded in how they understand and interpret the world, understanding the perceptions and experiences about mental health and help-seeking behaviour is important in the undertaking of addressing mental health problems among adolescents and young adults [ 44 ]. In the current study, we listen to the voices of adolescents and young adults regarding their lived experiences and mental health. This will be an addition to previous research on young people’s perceptions of mental health, as we hope to be able to identify what skills adolescents and young adults need to be able to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Hence, the aim with the current study is to explore the experiences and understandings of the life situation among adolescents and young adults of today, by making their voices heard in regards to mental health and help-seeking behaviour.

1.2. Research Questions

• What skills among adolescents and young adults can be identified as important to be able to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life?
• What are the needs and barriers to help-seeking among adolescents and young adults regarding mental health problems?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. data and participants.

This study is part of a larger project called “Creating better life skills among youth” and is based on data collected during spring and autumn of 2020. A previous research report with preliminary results from the study has been published [ 49 ]. Group interviews were chosen to obtain in-depth information from the participants; to encourage them to talk to one another, asking questions, exchanging experiences, and commentating on each other’s points of view; and to be able to ask follow-up questions when needed [ 50 ]. Besides group interviews with adolescents and young adults, group interviews with practitioners have been conducted within the larger project. This study involves participants in the ages 17–25 (M = 18.6 years) from four different cities in Sweden. Twenty-two adolescents and young adults (thirteen girls and nine boys) took part in group interviews. A total of six group interviews were conducted with three groups mixing boys and girls ( n = 5, n = 4, n = 3), two groups including only girls ( n = 4, n = 3), and one group including only boys ( n = 3). Two group interviews were conducted face-to face, while the remaining four group interviews were conducted via the digital tool Zoom, due to restrictions connected with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

2.2. Procedure and Interview Guide

The study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (No: 2020-01600). The participants were recruited via the Swedish national insurance company (Länsförsäkringar, LF, Stockholm, Sweden) in four different Swedish cities. LF consists of 23 regional insurance companies, located all over Sweden, that are committed to community involvement and work with social sustainability. Regional companies that showed interest in the study were asked to recruit young adults in the ages 16–25 to participate in the study. No particular selection criteria were stated. All adolescents and young adults who wanted to participate in a group interview were invited to the study. The participants were given written information about the study in advance and were informed that participation was voluntary, that their answers were anonymous, and that they could terminate their participation at any point. Written and oral consent were collected at the same time as the interviews. Since the participants were over the age of 15, no parental consent was needed. The group interviews were conducted using semi-structured interviews, and an interview guide was designed based on knowledge gaps identified in the literature review, namely making adolescents’ and young adults’ own voices heard regarding life challenges and barriers to help seeking. The main questions of interest were “What does health mean to you?”, “What skills do you need to handle life’s ups-and-downs?”, “Who do you talk to if you feel bad?”, “What do you think is missing to get more young to seek help if they feel bad?”, “What kind of help do young people need from adults to handle life’s ups-and-downs?”, “Where do young people turn when they need support concerning mental illness?”, and “There is a concept called life skills that is defined by the World Health Organization as abilities that make it possible to handle demands and challenges in everyday life in an effective way. What would you say are important life skills that a young person should have today?”. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with both authors, who took turns being the moderator in the sessions, present. The moderator asked the questions and followed up with questions such as “can you develop what you just said”, “what do you mean”, and “can you give any examples”. Before the group interviews ended, the participants were asked if they had anything to add or if they thought that something important had been left out of the conversation. The interviews lasted between 52 and 94 min. The transcripts were not shared with the participants prior to or following the analysis. The participants asked to take part of the results following publication.

2.3. Data Analysis

Data analysis was conducted using qualitative content analysis [ 51 ]. Each group interview was transcribed verbatim and quotations of relevance for the aim of the study were sorted to find patterns in the statements of the participants. Quotations in the results are labeled based on gender and municipality. When conducting qualitative analysis, it is paramount that the researcher maintains a vigilance and non-bias during analysis. This includes being transparent to enhance trustworthiness in data analysis, as well as being aware of one’s pre-understandings. Staying aware of one’s pre-understandings and expectations and putting these in a holding pattern while approaching data with an openness may lead to finding new perspectives [ 52 ]. Transparency includes being transparent about the rationale for the thematic structure in the coding process. In this study, transparency and non-bias were enhanced by including two researchers in the analysis process (the two authors) and by providing detailed descriptions as well as an example of the coding process ( Table 1 ). First, the transcription of each group interview was read through numerous times by both authors and meaning-carrying units responding to the aim of the study were extracted. Descriptions of mental health and help-seeking behaviour constituted the unit of analysis. In the next step, the meaning-carrying units were condensed and abstracted into codes. In order to identify similarities and differences, the codes were compared and then sorted into subcategories. As the analysis proceeded, subcategories were subsequently clarified and adjusted and two main categories emerged (see Table 1 ). The initial coding of the transcripts was performed by the first author, and the coded data were examined by the second author for emergent subcategories. Comparisons were made with the context in each step of the analysis, to verify the empirical base of the data. The tentative codes and subcategories were discussed by both authors and revised until consensus was reached. What differed between the two researchers was their judgement about overlapping between content in more than one initial subcategory. In these cases, we returned to the meaning-carry unit to check if the meaning unit itself fit the subcategory or if the preliminary coding needed to be reconsidered [ 52 ]. A process of reflection and discussion resulted in agreement about how to sort the codes. The current study is reported in line with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist [ 53 ].

Qualitative content analysis showing examples of adolescents’ and young adults’ views on mental health.

Analysis of the group interviews resulted in two categories and five subcategories (see Table 2 ). The first category (i.e., Life challenges) contains three sub-categories, namely sources of mental health problems, managing relationships, and an accepted way to express mental health problems. The second category (i.e., The need for present adults), contains two sub-categories, a need to be seen and heard and a need for increased availability.

Showing the results in terms of categories and subcategories.

3.1. Life Challenges

The category Life challenges emerged as important when listening to young adults’ voices about mental health. Within this category, three subcategories emerged: sources of mental health, managing relationships, and an accepted way to express mental health problems.

3.1.1. Sources of Mental Health Problems

In the interviews with the young adults, several different reasons emerge as to why youth today experience mental health problems. The young adults reason about the increased figures for self-reported mental problems and discuss that one cause of concern may be young people’s changed living conditions and increased opportunities. As young people today are better off in general, they mean that the threshold for feeling bad has decreased. Another reason is described as all the choices young people today are faced with in school and which are perceived to affect their future.

You’re too young to know… well “I want to be a carpenter, I want to be a doctor” and such. So you are left alone, sort of. You do not know where to go because you have to take certain steps to get to certain places. And then it’s kind of hard to decide, you do not know. (Municipality B, boy)

The young adults in the study express that they lack knowledge that is important for them to be able to make independent decisions. These may include choices that affect their future professional careers. This lack of knowledge that contributes to independence, they say, is a source of stress. They request information about life after school, such as what different professions entail, including the working conditions, and the advantages and disadvantages of different career choices. They believe that in the hunt for students, high schools do not always take the responsibility to market themselves in a truthful way.

And I think maybe you should not paint a school with negativity but still present that if you work in these professions it will be like this… well it will not be that you work seven to five every single day and have weekends free and things like that… in healthcare. Now I also understood it when I applied for the program but no one told me about conditions you have during work, sometimes you do not even have time to eat lunch and everything like that. They paint everything that is so good and then this bad, you get it like a slap in the face, because no one tells you about it. Because it’s criticism like ... And then you get these bad things for free, you get to learn it yourself as well. (Municipality B, girl)

There was an expressed desire that the schools should contribute with an increased knowledge about life after school and all that it entails. The young adults experienced that as soon as they leave school they are expected to know how to acquire a home and take a loan from the bank, what insurance to have, how to pay bills, and how to set up a budget. They also expressed that independence presupposes good self-confidence, so that one is able to take care of oneself. It also emerged that to be able to become independent it is important to have a fair picture of what adult life means and that you do not always receive this support from home.

I think there must be a changed picture of what life after school really is, when you are in school. To find out all that yourself afterwards, it becomes very difficult for very many depending on what kind of support you have or if you have parents who support you or something like that. Because already in high school, they say that "now all the responsibility lies with you" and then you turn 18 and then you are an adult even though you are not treated like an adult. (Municipality A, girl)

Constant comparisons with peers are another thing that creates stress and situations of mental problems according to the young adults. Comparisons are made on social media, where much concerns painting a flawless picture of yourself, partly to show how you have succeeded in different ways in life but also so that your friends will not become tired of you. The young adults say that it is easy to compare themselves with friends and acquaintances on social media and wish that they had the simple lives that are often illustrated there. It can be about looks, clothes, make-up, training, earning a lot of money, and establishing a career. If it feels that a young adult cannot achieve all this, they beat themselves down. The young adults also described that youth are influenced by various influential people on social media, influencers. Staying up to date with what the popular influencers’ post online is also expressed as a source of stress.

“So there’s a lot you have to live up to, like… what they post, that this is what life should look like. If you do not have this instagram life then life is no good”. (Municipality B, girl)

Comparisons in school are also listed as a factor that, through stress and pressure, contributes to young people’s well-being and mental health problems. The comparison between schoolmates can lead to many young people feeling bad.

A classic example is this… well after the test… that many people like to walk around and ask "what score did you get?" and then you feel pressure if you did not reach the same level or so. And that in turn can lead you to feeling unsuccessful and then you skip the next test instead. (Municipality C, girl)

It appears that young people who perform worse than their peers, as well as young people who perform better than their peers, experience stress and pressure similar to each other. According to young adults, youth today place high demands on themselves to perform in school, which can sometimes be unreasonable. There is also an experience that teachers do not always have the time to help when they feel bad about school. Some of the participants in the study also make the connection between mental health problems and neuropsychiatric diagnosis. They discuss that underlying diagnoses that remain undiagnosed can be a reason why some young people today feel bad, since they end up at a disadvantage because the expectations and requirements are not adapted to the difficulties that the diagnosis entails.

That’s how it was for me and I got depressed from a very early age so there was no one… I did not understand and there was no one around me who saw it either and I think I pushed myself quite far... for me it took quite a long time to understand that it was a state of disability in a way that you could get well from it and that it was not something that was going to last forever. (Municipality A, girl)

The young adults describe situations where they have experienced failures and that this is something that feels very hard to handle. What is described as hard is to fail in front of others, especially peers who you do not know so well. Strategies to handle tough situations are discussed and include learning how to handle that failure is a part of life. This includes an increased understanding that it is okay to feel bad sometimes and an increased understanding that you will face adversity in life.

I actually believe that... you kind of have to see the real world, the more you get into it… so you do not try to change or remove that which is experienced as difficult, because you encounter some hurdles. (Municipality D, boy)

An increased understanding that life is not always on top could, according to the young adults, also mean that you become more accepted regardless of how you feel and the reasons behind it. They believe that an increased understanding could also mean an increased insight into the fact that there is help available to help you handle your mental health problems.

3.1.2. Managing Relationships

School is the young people’s arena, where most of their everyday lives take place and it emerges that school-related stress includes both demands to perform well in school and to create and maintain good peer relationships and love relationships. A source of stress, according to the young adults in the study, is young people’s own thoughts about what are normal thoughts and feelings in relationships with their partner, peers, or parents. One boy puts it:

So I think love relationships are after all… when it becomes relevant, it takes up a very, very large part of one’s thoughts and person in general, I think. And to just be able to go to someone and ask “am I doing the right thing? Am I reasonable? ” such things, would probably have been very… a greater security I think than to deal with all this myself. (Municipality A, boy)

When it comes to relationships, it arises that something that affects one’s own state of mind is the mental state of one’s friend. Tools to handle their friends’ mental health problems and where to turn to obtain help are requested by the youth.

My mental state right now is because everyone comes to me to talk and I’m the one who likes to be quiet and not talk so much as well. So it would be nice to have tools to like.... (Municipality C, girl)

According to the young adults, there are clear norms dictating how boys and girls should behave. These norms advocate a "macho culture" among boys where boys should not cry or open up too much about their emotions. Girls, on the other hand, are allowed to be more sensitive. It was perceived that it is tough for boys, as they had to behave in a certain way in school to fit this norm.

You are expected to be masculine, to be rock hard, you should endure everything like this. If you say something like “I’m not feeling well today, it’s not going to work today. My psyche destroys everything ”. It is not an option for them, then it is like “pack your bags and don’t come back no more”. So you must never lower your guard or what to say and calm it down. It is the one who is most masculine who dictates the rules. (Municipality B, boy)

Another norm that boys and girls talked about is that boys should not perform academically well in school. Boys should perform in other ways and that in some contexts it is not accepted, or perceived as nerdy, to keep studying after high school. This could lead to a vicious circle where boys feel bad about bad grades. However, there was a perception that the macho norm was not as strong now as before but that it was still prevalent. The perception was also that boys and girls experience mental health problems equally and that relationships and school were something that both boys and girls experience as important areas and that affected their well-being. For girls, it was perceived to be more acceptable to talk about situations involving mental health problems, while boys were perceived as good at hiding their mental health problems.

All my guy friends from primary school have told me that they experience situations of mental health problems. And it’s a bit like "yes but why don’t you talk about it" and "no we never talk about that". So guys do not talk about feelings like we girls do. (Municipality D, girl)

3.1.3. An Accepted Way to Express Mental Health Problems

Norms and expectations on how to talk about mental health problems were expressed in various ways. On the one hand, there is a picture that there is still a lot of stigma about mental illness. Young people only talk to their closest friends about how they feel and it is still not perceived as acceptable to feel bad. The young adults in our study talked about how people with mental illness can be perceived as lazy, that they are labeled as attention seekers, or that they are perceived as strange. The perceptions are that there are stereotypical images of how certain diagnoses are expressed that do not always give a correct picture, which means that it can be difficult to be taken seriously. A participant who had been diagnosed with Attention Difficulty Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) says:

Students could sit in the classroom and say “but I can not focus because I have ADHD” and scream and have fun, which made it harder for me who actually had the diagnosis… because I know the people who sat and screamed did not have it… it was a way to blame someone else or scream or get yes… it was like, it was not true, which made it very difficult for me and the other people in the class to be taken seriously. And the same with anxiety and depression, it unfortunately becomes difficult to be taken seriously because it is based on these stereotypes that exist around it. (Municipality A, girl)

It emerged that there is an understanding among youth that many young people today have mental health problems. However, at the same time, the young people question whether this is really the case and mean that it is hard to determine who really suffers from mental health problems. It seems like it has become normal, a norm, and that many young people are not afraid to express this:

“But now... it’s a little more mainstream to have mental health problems”. (Municipality A, girl)

The young people believe that, after all, it has become more accepted to say that they suffer from mental ill-health. In some cases, they describe that it may be that many young people voice their problems as a way to gain attention from those around them. One boy problematizes this:

It depends on the way you seek attention. If I go out and shout that I feel really bad, then it’s like a cry for help but then I do not do it the right way I do not think”. (Municipality D, boy)

It emerges that perhaps it is not feeling bad that is accepted or not, but what you feel bad about. The response that young people think they will receive from those around them affects whether they choose to tell someone how they feel. It emerges from the conversations that many young people choose not to tell anyone if they experience mental health problems. The reason is, among other things, a fear of not being accepted or of being taken seriously if you open up about how you feel. If you normally are perceived as a happy and positive person, you do not want to risk this image change. At the same time, they reflect positively if someone close to them would tell them that they are suffering from mental health problems. Another reason to not tell anyone is that they do not want them or their problems to be a burden for anyone else or that they do not want to risk being treated with diminution:

“I think the difference is a bit, for me anyway, that what you often hear is "come on, pull yourself up" and they can do it… there is a difference as well. It’s not as simple as that”. (Municipality A, girl)

3.2. The Need for Present Adults

The young people in the study expressed a need for present adults around them, such as parents, school staff, and other professionals, as important for them to want to seek help with issues relating to mental health. The category The need for present adults was expressed as a need to be seen and heard and a need for increased availability.

3.2.1. A Need to Be Seen and Heard

To increase young people’s help-seeking behaviours, there was a general demand for a greater understanding of what mental illness is and a request for greater respect towards those who experience situations of mental health problems. One girl says that she would rather have her feelings confirmed instead of hearing that everyone is having a hard time at times:

Of course you understand that not everything is a bed of roses, but sometimes you have to be confirmed that if you do not seize it now, it can get worse. So you can go from having just a bad day, then there will be several bad days and you only hear that everyone has bad days sometimes. So sometimes you need confirmation for… and understanding as well. (Municipality B, girl)

It emerged that the young adults expressed a need for parents to be more interested and ask them how their day at school had been. When parents asked the same questions every day, they often received the same answer. A girl says:

I usually feel that way when parents ask the same question every day, then I feel that it becomes monotonous because then it’s the same answer every day as well. So there will be no progress. So they will not find out so much more than they already know. Yes, but "how was school today?" It was fine ”. Yes, but they do not ask any more questions "well what did you do?" "The ordinary". (Municipality A, girl)

It was also expressed that adults should not be afraid of being wrong, or of wanting to learn from young people, for example, when it comes to social media, to show interest and to not be judgmental. A girl says:

We are supposed to learn from adults, that they have more experience in life and they know what is right and wrong, but then, they must also learn from us. It is we who live in the youth now. (Municipality D, girl)

The young people sought more acceptance from adults and to not be questioned about their actions. For example, when it came to actions on social media. They thought it was based on parental ignorance and that they themselves had not been a part of social media when they were growing up. It was perceived that adults could easily become hysterical but that it is important that the adults trust their children and instead talk to them if they felt that something was wrong. Some felt that they had been wrongfully diminished when they told adults about feeling bad.

I would also say diminishing… that people say "pull yourself up, bite the bullet” or “everyone has bad days and hard times" and then you sit there and feel stupid for feeling the way you do when it may not be quite the same as for those who do not feel mentally ill. But then you feel stupid or yes, you are kind of diminished and I do not think people think about it. But it reflects quite hard on oneself. And then maybe you start telling yourself that "I’m just lying, I’m totally weird in the head”. So it will be like a huge mistake, which is a great pity because maybe you should not have to hear that. (Municipality A, girl)

Of importance for the young adults in our study to seek help turned out to be a sense of trust in the different professions they encounter in different situations. The youth experiences were that the meeting with professionals is not always based on the young people’s needs. Among other things, there was a need for the conversations to be forward-looking, where they themselves could talk about their experiences, and not become too caught up in the causes behind the ill health that they themselves do not always perceive as relevant. A girl says:

So I have a psychologist that I also go to at BUP [child and adolescent psychiatry] but I don’t really feel… so we have not really got that connection or what to say, that I feel I can talk to her. Because it feels a little, for me it feels very well… so… that there must always be a solution or a cause and you always have to go into all these causes and for me it just feels like… so, I would rather move forward if you say. (Municipality A, girl)

Trust in professionals is also about an experience of being met by an understanding that in the process of feeling better, one is also allowed to fail. A girl tells of a situation where there was a lack of trust in a counselor and she ended up lying in an attempt to achieve the expectations placed on her because she did not feel that it was acceptable for her to fail. Feeling seen was also something that affected their sense of trust. To be seen also meant to be treated in a respectful way by the professionals, reflected in how they communicate, both with the youth themselves and with other professionals who are familiar with the problem.

3.2.2. Need for Accessibility

There were participants who felt well informed about where to turn for help, but the voices parted and there was also a desire for more information about where to turn when experiencing mental health problems. This also applied to the school counselor and school nurse, but if you wanted to meet someone outside the school, it was not as clear how to obtain help with questions that may not qualify for specialist help. There were suggestions, such as information about the youth clinic as an anonymous activity from which you can obtain support; or more information about what the Student Health Team could assist with, more specifically and continuously; or an information letter sent out to all students, or perhaps directly to their parents, about where to turn for help. Another aspect that was raised (here by boys) was that when informing about where to seek support and help if you feel bad, this should be specially designed to also reach out to boys. One boy expressed:

“It feels like they have to come and make some contact with you… they may be able to ask like everyone else, of course it is difficult but then ask how they really feel …”. (Municipality A, boy)

One suggestion that came up was to offer individual dialogues with the school social worker each semester, like a form of screening. This would reduce the stigma of contacting the social worker yourself. At the same time, they understood that it could be an unreasonable amount of time to put on the school social worker. It was perceived as a big step to seek help when experiencing mental health problems. There was an experience of feeling lonely in what they were going through, something they were ashamed of, and that in today’s society it is still not perceived as normal to have mental health problems. A girl said:

“It is still not normalized, it is just made up”. (Municipality C, girl)

The young adults discuss that a visit to the school social worker should not be visible to others, and it would be better if they could visit the social worker after school hours, more discreetly. There was a perception that those who went to the school counselor had real problems, which was perceived as shameful. Despite the big step, it was perceived as something positive to obtain help for your problems. It was also important to obtain help early, so that the situation would not develop too far and you kept things going for too long. It was expressed that they hoped that someone in their surroundings would see them before the problems would become too big. However, there were perceptions that if you have problems, you must be the one who seeks help because people in the surroundings are bad at reading the signs or are afraid of bringing it up because they do not know what the reaction could be. Even if a person who has problems knew about the possibilities of seeking help, they still had to make the contact themselves and this could be a hurdle:

“That you yourself have to reach out a hand when it’s me who needs the help”. (Municipality B, girl)

One girl believed that adults at her school were good at talking about mental health problems. She gives examples of how the school nurse and the school social worker usually make sure to visit and have time for each class from time to time and ask "how are you?" and talk about how they work and how they can help the students.

Reasons why their need for support was not always met was explained by the young people in some cases as a lack of resources and stability. The young people realize that they cannot always obtain the help they need because the student health professionals do not have the time or resources to meet the needs of all young people. This leads to the idea that different matters must be prioritized over others. The young people thus express an understanding that their needs cannot always be met due to the fact that the resources simply do not exist. A girl says:

I also remember that the school social worker who were available, they were maybe there once a week, every other month as well so there was no opportunity to go and talk to them. They sat there at school for three hours one day a week and I don’t really know how it would be prioritized who would be allowed to go and talk to them. (Municipality A, girl)

The need for stability was expressed as the importance of having adults around them with whom there was an established lasting relationship. In this way, it would not be up to the individual student to tell their story every time new staff start at school or in the student health team. The participants attach great importance to the school as the primary support and believe that the school should become better at intervening early. A boy says:

I think this is very important for school social workers… at [the school] where I go, where it was changed… so we could have the same school social worker for two months tops. And then there are those who have problems and may want to go and talk to a counselor… then they never have the time to develop a trust in this person. So I think it is very important that you have this adult… that you can talk to and you can have the stability over time. (Municipality D, boy)

4. Discussion

4.1. results discussion.

The aim with the current study was to explore the experiences and understandings of the life situation among adolescents and young adults of today by making their voices heard in regards to mental health and help-seeking behaviour. The specific research questions were (1) what skills among adolescents and young adults can be identified as important to be able to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life, and (2) what are the needs and barriers to help-seeking among adolescents and young adults regarding mental health problems. In addition to previous research, this study uses a nonclinical sample to explore broader perceptions of everyday life challenges among adolescents and young adults without an outspoken mental illness. The increasing number of young people reporting mental health problems and stress is a major concern that needs to be taken seriously [ 5 ]. The results of this study may guide actions taken to promote mental health and prevent mental ill-health on a broader level. The main findings showed that the participants in our study present two different sides when it comes to mental health problems. First, mental health problems are described as mainstream and something that everyone is experiencing at some point. Second, adolescents and young adults also experience stigmatizing attitudes and other barriers associated with mental health, which results in few seeking help when they really need it. In addition to previous research on stigma, this study indicates that focusing on reducing self-stigma (i.e., the internalization of negative stereotypes and beliefs about mental illness held by others) may be of equal importance when working to improve life skills among youth. By listening to the voices of adolescents and young adults regarding their lived experiences and mental health, this study will be an addition to previous research as we have strived to identify what skills adolescents and young adults need to be able to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.

4.1.1. Life Challenges as Identified by Young Adults

Different challenges in the lives of young people emerge in the discussions. A major life challenge was expressed as striving to always be on top and the consequences of failure were described as devastating, in the worst case leading to mental ill-health. To be able to meet these challenges and setbacks, young people may need to develop individual coping strategies and relevant life skills. By focusing on the development of important life skills early in life, young people may be better prepared and equipped to meet challenges in life to prevent developing mental ill-health. Life skills have been identified as abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour and as an essential resource for developing skills to negotiate everyday challenges [ 26 , 28 , 29 ]. In this study, the most pronounced life challenges voiced by the young adults included academic failures, negative self-evaluations through social comparisons, relationship problems, and other performance-oriented tasks that result in stress and negative feelings. This type of stress usually finds expression in bodily reactions such as increase in heart rate, sweating, dizziness, or nausea [ 12 ]. The expressed sources of stress are in line with previous research indicating that adolescence is a life period that involves many challenges and changes in different areas such as increasing academic demands, rearrangement of relationships with parents and peers, and developing one’s own personal identity [ 10 , 11 ]. An important coping strategy and life skill that emerged among the participants was more knowledge related to how their bodies react to stress, and that these are normal reactions. Further, it emerged that what is being portrayed on social media creates an image that life should be good every single minute—and that constant comparisons creates feelings of failure. This is in line with previous research showing that social comparisons on social media may lead to beliefs that others are happier and have better lives [ 23 ], which may promote anxiety symptoms and cause interference in daily functioning [ 19 ]. In addition, the young adults in our study express a need to receive information about how to handle life challenges without having to gain the knowledge through their own lived experiences. Many times, adults’ willingness in “trying to fix the problem” may disable youth to find their own coping strategies. Youth may need to be exposed to setbacks and experiences of failure, and not try to avoid them, in order to develop independent coping strategies. In accordance with Wickström and Kvist Lindholm [ 5 ], youth, as well as adults, need constant reminders that it is a part of life to feel sad, angry, or upset from time to time, and that these feelings are not harmful and do not necessarily indicate mental ill-health. Children and youth that are able to use a broad range of strategies in an appropriate way to face demanding situations are likely to show a more adaptive psychological functioning than young people who use fewer coping strategies [ 54 , 55 ].

Many of the life challenges identified by the young adults in the current study are related to the youth themselves. Studies show that young people’s description of mental health problems and difficulties in everyday often are related to school environment and workload, relationships and social norms, and bodily experiences and body-ideals [ 48 ]. There is a risk that the reporting of young people’s mental health in the media and elsewhere focuses on individual factors, which shifts the focus away from more structural explanations within the school system’s organization and problematic living conditions. Further, there is a risk that alarming messages in the media and elsewhere in part will negatively affect young people’s self-image and belief in the future negatively, which can lead to a focus on care and medicalization instead of prevention [ 56 ]. Young people living in difficult circumstances may see themselves as the problem and interpret feelings of irritation and depression and similar symptoms as feelings they should remove at any cost [ 56 ]. Increased knowledge of these structural explanations may be helpful tools for youth and adults to understand their whole situation so that they can find constructive coping strategies. Listening to the voices of young people, it is evident that there is a great need for youth as well as adults to gain more knowledge about mental health, its risk factors and causes, coping strategies, how to seek information, and where to seek help, that is, strengthen their mental health literacy [ 32 ].

4.1.2. Barriers to Help-Seeking Behaviour

The young adults in the study expressed a need for adults to see and hear them, including a greater acceptance and respect for their situation and a sense of trust. To meet youth in a respectful way and to signal that they are seen and heard could be a way to confirm their feelings and show an understanding of their situation, to show interest, to not be judgmental but willing to learn from them. This indicates that adults (including parents) could benefit from increased knowledge relating to mental health literacy and access to communication tools that will increase their ability to meet the youth and talk to them in a constructive way [ 57 ]. Barriers to help-seeking have been identified to include, amongst others, a desire to handle the problem of one’s own, low mental health literacy as well as negative and stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness and towards help-seeing [ 33 ]. The unwillingness to seek help among the youth in our study was expressed as a way to risk your image, while there was also an expressed gratitude and admiration towards close friends voicing their problems. Underlying expectations expressed as norms, attitudes, and values are visible in the interviews with the young adults in our study. All of these outspoken and unspoken expectations relating to youth behaviour affect the understanding and help-seeking actions taken among youth [ 58 ].

It is often seen as a giant leap to set your foot in the school social workers’ office, indicating that you need help and that you have problems. People with different forms of mental health problems often experience self-stigma, whereby they internalize negative stereotypes and beliefs about mental illness held by others leading to feelings of shame [ 59 ]. Hence, self-stigmatization may decrease youth willingness to seek help [ 60 , 61 , 62 ]. A literature review identified psychoeducation as the most common intervention strategy to reduce self-stigma related to mental illness [ 63 ]. While it emerged that some youth are good at verbalizing their problems on social media, it was also evident that expressing your problems too openly was seen as a way to seek attention and was looked down upon. Hence, there seems to be many barriers for youth to seek help for their problems that can be related to the personal image they want to portray [ 61 , 62 ] as well as the unavailability of resources [ 33 ]. Research shows that many children do not obtain the help they need in time [ 64 ], which could be a reason we see that more children turn to social media to express their problems for which they receive attention and concern. Further, social media may function as a maladaptive coping strategy, as individuals may use social media sites to avoid real-world stressors via their distracting features or posting about their problems [ 19 ].

The barriers to help-seeking need to be lowered, and there is an outspoken need for adults to be more present and available. The young adults in the current study expressed that the student health team was perceived as unavailable making it hard to seek their help. Different ways to lower these barriers could be to invest more in outreach activities, such as individual and recurring dialogues with the school social worker or forms of help-seeking that avoid disclosure. The young adults in this study saw these activities as ways to reduce the stigma and pressure of contacting the school social worker yourself, or to be able to keep your help-seeking unrevealed. Web-based platforms could be seen as a form of outreach activity where youth could avoid disclosure [ 65 ]. Self-help interventions are also accessible to anyone, including individuals who would otherwise avoid seeking help due to fears about disclosure [ 59 ]. For more youth to seek help, it is reasonable to think that they must believe that it is worth the investment in time, commitment, and emotions.

4.2. Strengths and Limitations

This study used a small sample of adolescents and young adults, so the results may not be directly generalizable to other countries or age groups. Despite employing a nonclinical sample, several participants expressed personal interactions with counsellors, doctors, and psychologists in relation to mental health concerns, which may have influenced their views. Further, the global COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated restrictions and isolation for this target group, may have had some effect on their views on mental health. The current study used group discussions to encourage active discussions. The group interaction offered by group discussion encourages people to talk to one another, asking questions, exchanging experiences, and commentating on each other’s points of view [ 50 ]. The aim was not to study a gender perspective, and the group discussions were conducted as same-gender discussions as well as some groups with mixed gender. Although there were a few more girls in the sample compared to boys, the perception among the participating researchers was that neither the varying group compositions nor the uneven gender distribution affected the discussions in the groups or the results in any ways. The age of the participating youth (17–25 years of age) may have made them less susceptible to being affected by discussing a sensitive topic such as mental health with the opposite sex [ 66 ]. However, mixing ages in the different groups made it impossible to draw any conclusions regarding differing views from a developmental perspective, which could be seen as a limitation. Choosing girls and boys from different cities and in different ages may have enhanced the credibility of the data, as it offered a richer variation and understanding of mental health among youth with different backgrounds. Another limitation might be that we used Zoom to perform some of the interviews. Natural pauses might become rare and forced. We would have preferred face-to-face interviews, but this was the only option during the restrictions at the time. On the other hand, using telephone or other techniques such as Zoom might increase feelings of anonymity, making respondents more relaxed and open, which in turn can decrease interviewer effects [ 67 ]. Some of the participants chose not to show their picture, which made them more comfortable in sharing. Further, the trustworthiness was enhanced by involving two researchers in the analysis process to reach consensus and by including quotations from the transcribed text showing similarities within and differences between categories [ 51 ]. To use young adults’ understanding of mental health as a tool for schools’ health promoting work starting in the early school years, it would be interesting to conduct a similar study among children with younger ages.

5. Conclusions

Research investigating young people’s perspectives regarding their own lived experiences is scarce, and listening to the voices of young adults could be a way to identify important skills and abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that will enable youth to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. In this study, the most pronounced life challenges voiced by the young adults included academic failures, negative self-evaluations through social comparisons, relationship problems, and other performance-oriented tasks that result in stress, negative feelings, and, worst case, mental ill-health. The challenges to students’ well-being and mental health are many, and there are no simple solutions.

Based on the results in this study, life skills training should include elements to enhance the development of individual coping strategies to apply when life feels tough and when the body is experiencing stress reactions. Most importantly, youth may need to be exposed to setbacks and experiences of failure, and not try to avoid them, in order to develop independent coping strategies. This also includes strategies for help-seeking behaviour. Further, to minimize the risk of self-stigma and the internalization of negative stereotypes and self-blame, life skills training should include elements to increase knowledge of structural factors that have effects on the life situation among youth. Young people’s reactions may simply be healthy reactions in an unhealthy environment. In addition, life skills training should also include parents, school personnel, and other important adults in the lives of the young people. Teachers, schools, and parents can make a real difference, and together they can attend to students’ psychological and social needs, helping them develop a sense of control over their future and the resilience they need to be successful in life [ 12 ].

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, L.H. and L.B.; formal analysis, L.H.; funding acquisition, L.H.; methodology, L.H. and L.B.; project administration, L.H. and L.B.; writing–original draft, L.H.; writing–review and editing, L.H. and L.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by Länsförsäkringar.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (No: 2020-01600, date 11 March 2020).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. Written informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) to publish this paper.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had suggestions to the design of the study (i.e., group interviews); while no role in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Overcoming Mental Blocks: Strategies for Enhancing Problem-Solving as a Business Owner

Last Updated:  

August 21, 2023

Solving complex problems is a constant demand for business owners. Whether it's unravelling operational intricacies or devising innovative strategies, your ability to conquer mental blocks can significantly shape your business's trajectory. In this blog post, we'll delve into effective techniques that empower you to bolster your problem-solving prowess and triumph over frustrating mental barriers.

Key Takeaways on Enhancing Problem Solving

• Foster Curiosity : Approach challenges with curiosity to unlock fresh ideas and solutions, turning setbacks into opportunities.
• Deconstruct Complex Problems : Break problems into manageable parts to mitigate overwhelm and achieve a sense of accomplishment.
• Immerse in Mindfulness and Meditation : Engage in mindfulness and meditation to reduce stress, enhance concentration, and foster innovative thinking.
• Embrace Varied Perspectives : Seek diverse viewpoints by exploring different industries, literature, and workshops to spark creativity.
• Collaborate and Solicit Feedback : Engage with peers, mentors, and team members to gather insights and refine your strategies.
• Prioritise Rest and Self-Care: Take breaks and indulge in activities you enjoy to rejuvenate your mind and gain new perspectives.
• Harness Visualisation : Utilise visualisation to boost confidence and motivation, enabling you to confront challenges more effectively.

Foster a Curious Outlook

An essential initial step to surmounting mental blocks is cultivating curiosity. Embrace challenges as opportunities for discovery rather than insurmountable hurdles. It's vital to acknowledge that setbacks and obstacles are inherent to entrepreneurship, offering priceless insights that refine your strategies. By approaching problems with a curious mindset, you unlock the potential for fresh ideas and solutions.

To integrate curiosity into your problem-solving arsenal, consider the following strategies:

• Ask Thought-Provoking Questions : Challenge yourself to ask questions that delve deeper into the heart of a problem. This practice encourages exploration and uncovers hidden facets that might otherwise go unnoticed.
• Engage in Continuous Learning : Cultivate a habit of continuous learning by immersing yourself in diverse subjects and industries. Cross-pollinating ideas from various sources fuels your curiosity and enhances your ability to devise creative solutions.
• Cultivate a Beginner's Mind : Approach each challenge with the mindset of a beginner, regardless of your expertise. This stance encourages you to shed assumptions and view problems with fresh eyes, leading to innovative breakthroughs.
• Encourage Exploration Within Your Team : Foster an environment that encourages your team members to question, explore, and propose unconventional solutions. This collaborative curiosity can lead to collective insights that drive your business forward.

Deconstruct Complex Issues

The enormity of intricate problems can induce feelings of being overwhelmed. To counteract this, deconstruct the problem into smaller, achievable segments. Concentrating on individual components lets you craft an organised strategy for resolution. This not only mitigates feelings of overwhelm but also provides a sense of accomplishment as you systematically navigate each sub-task.

To integrate the practice of deconstruction into your problem-solving approach, consider these strategies:

• Identify the Core Challenge : Begin by identifying the core challenge that seems insurmountable. This forms the foundation upon which you'll build your segmented approach.
• Break Down into Components : Dissect the challenge into its key components or stages. These segments should be distinct enough to be addressed individually yet interconnected enough to contribute to the overall solution.
• Prioritise and Sequence : Once you've broken down the problem, prioritise the segments based on their interdependence and urgency. Sequence the sub-tasks logically, ensuring a smooth progression towards resolution.
• Allocate Resources and Time : Assign resources, allocate time, and plan actions for each segment. This strategic allocation ensures that you're dedicating appropriate attention to each part, maximising your efficiency.

Immerse in Mindfulness and Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation wield formidable influence in decluttering your thoughts and heightening your problem-solving aptitude. Dedicate time each day to engage in mindfulness exercises or meditation. This practice aids in stress reduction, enhances concentration, and amplifies your capacity for innovative thinking. Such practices enable you to detach from the immediate problem, granting you a novel outlook that can lead to inventive solutions.

Embrace Varied Perspectives

Sticking to your comfort zone can lead to mental stagnation. To overcome mental blocks, immerse yourself in diverse perspectives. Venture beyond your industry, delve into unfamiliar literature, attend cross-disciplinary conferences, or participate in eclectic workshops. This amalgamation of ideas can spark creativity, providing novel insights applicable to your business hurdles.

Collaborate and Solicit Feedback

Though the weight of decisions often falls on your shoulders as a business owner, collaboration and feedback are invaluable assets against mental blocks. Engage with team members, mentors, or fellow entrepreneurs to dissect problems collectively. Differing viewpoints and constructive critiques can lead to fresh ideas and alternative solutions that might have eluded you. This collaborative approach fine-tunes your concepts and strategies.

Prioritise Rest and Self-Care

Persistently grappling with a problem can lead to cognitive fatigue and eventual burnout. Recognise moments of mental stagnation and grant yourself permission to take breaks. Engage in activities you relish, whether it's physical exercise, quality time with loved ones, or pursuing hobbies. These pursuits rejuvenate your mind and rekindle your perspective, empowering you to approach problems with renewed vigour.

Harness the Power of Visualisation

Visualisation is a technique embraced by many achievers to surmount mental barriers. Close your eyes and vividly picture yourself surmounting the challenge at hand. Envision the steps you undertake, the obstacles you conquer, and the positive outcomes that materialise. This practice fortifies your self-assurance and motivation, propelling you to tackle challenges head-on.

FAQs on Problem Solving as a Business Owner

As you embark on your journey to enhance problem-solving skills and overcome mental barriers, you're likely to encounter questions and seek further insights. Below, we address some of the most common queries to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the strategies discussed in this blog post.

How can curiosity really impact problem-solving?

Curiosity sparks a desire to explore, question, and discover. When you approach challenges with curiosity, you open yourself up to innovative solutions. It encourages you to delve deeper, challenge assumptions, and consider alternative perspectives that might lead to breakthrough insights.

Can deconstructing complex problems be applied to any situation?

Absolutely. Deconstruction is a versatile technique that can be applied across various domains. Whether you're facing operational issues, strategic dilemmas, or creative obstacles, breaking them down into manageable parts can help you develop a structured approach to resolution.

How does mindfulness help in problem-solving?

Mindfulness enhances your problem-solving abilities by reducing stress and improving concentration. It enables you to step back from the immediate challenge, allowing your mind to rest and gain fresh perspectives. This mental clarity often leads to more innovative and effective solutions.

How do I encourage diverse perspectives within my team?

Foster an inclusive and open environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Encourage cross-disciplinary discussions, organise brainstorming sessions, and welcome input from individuals with varied backgrounds and expertise.

Is taking breaks a sign of weakness or unproductivity? 

Not at all. Taking breaks is essential for maintaining mental and emotional well-being. Stepping away from a problem, even briefly, can rejuvenate your mind and prevent burnout. It actually enhances your overall productivity and creativity in the long run.

Can visualisation really impact my ability to solve problems? 

Visualisation is a powerful tool that has been proven to enhance confidence and motivation. When you vividly imagine yourself overcoming challenges, you're more likely to approach them with a positive mindset, which can greatly improve your problem-solving outcomes.

How do I know if I'm making progress in overcoming mental blocks? 

Progress often manifests as a renewed sense of clarity, increased confidence in your problem-solving abilities, and a willingness to embrace challenges rather than shy away from them. As you consistently apply the techniques discussed, you'll notice these positive shifts in your mindset and approach.

In conclusion, mental blocks are a common nemesis for business proprietors, yet they need not hinder your progress. By nurturing curiosity, disassembling issues, practising mindfulness, adopting varied perspectives, collaborating, prioritising self-care, and employing visualisation, you can elevate your problem-solving acumen and adeptly navigate challenges. Remember, triumphing over mental blocks is a skill honed through practice and unwavering commitment.

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Barriers to Effective Problem Solving

Mcat psychology - chapter 2- section 4 - cognition - intelligence & problem-solving.

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Sample MCAT Question - Barriers to Effective Problem Solving

Which barrier to effective problem solving involves thinking that it is necessary to use all information provided to solve a problem?

a) Irrelevant Information

b) Functional Fixedness

c) Mental Set

d) Unnecessary Constraints

A is correct. The irrelevant information barrier to effective problem solving is the false notion that all information included with the problem is needed to solve the problem. Answer choice B is incorrect because functional fixedness is the tendency to perceive an object only in terms of its most common use. Answer choice C is incorrect because mental set occurs when people continually try to use a problem solving strategy that worked in the past, but may not necessarily be the correct method for the current problem. Answer choice D is incorrect because unnecessary constraints are when individuals assume there are rules that do not exist.

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Barriers to Effective Problem Solving for the MCAT

In the MCAT post, we explore four barriers to effective problem solving that are important to know for the Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section of the MCAT. These four barriers are irrelevant information, functional fixedness, mental set, and unnecessary constraints.

Irrelevant Information

Irrelevant information is information included in a problem that is not related to or required to solve the problem. Irrelevant information is an issue because people generally believe that they need to use all the information provided in a problem to solve it. However, this is often not the case. To solve problems efficiently, it is necessary to determine what information is relevant.

Consider the problem: 30% of residents in Boston have unlisted telephone numbers. If you randomly select 150 names from the Boston telephone directory, how many of these people would you expect to have unlisted phone numbers? In this problem, the information provided is that 30% of residents have unlisted phone numbers, and 150 names are selected from the Boston telephone book. It can be tempting to think that the answer is just 30% of 150 people (45 people). However, this is not correct. The answer to this problem is actually zero because names taken from a telephone directory  must  have listed numbers. The 30% is a distractor in the problem and is not required to answer the question.

Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness is the tendency to perceive objects only in terms of their most common uses. For example, in the String Problem depicted in Figure 1 ,  two strings hang from a ceiling and need to be tied together. However, they are too far apart to allow a person to grab one and walk to the other. On the table is a pair of pliers. Most people can’t determine how to utilize the pliers to tie the two strings together because they think of the pliers as a tool to hold, bend, or compress objects.

However, in the solution depicted in Figure 2, it can be seen that there are other ways to use pliers. The pliers can be connected to the string to make a pendulum and swung back and forth to allow someone holding one string to grab the other. By surpassing functional fixedness and being able to utilize objects in less common ways, problem-solving can be made easier.

A mental set is the collection of problem-solving strategies that have worked for a person in the past. Take the Water Jar Problem as an example, where there are three empty water jars that can hold different volumes of fluids. Jar A can hold 37 cups of water, Jar B can hold 12 cups of water, and Jar C can hold five cups of water. The problem’s task involves filling and emptying the jars as many times as necessary to measure out 10 cups of water. The solution is to fill up Jar A with 37 cups of water. This is poured into Jar B, which removes 12 cups of water and leaves 25 cups of water in Jar A. Jar A is then poured into Jar C to remove five cups of water. This is done three times to remove 15 cups of water, leaving 10 cups of water in Jar A.

In trial two of the Water Jar Problem, Jar A can hold 43 cups of water, Jar B can hold nine cups of water, and Jar C can hold four cups of water. The goal is to measure out 22 cups of water. When presented with this problem, most people want to try the same solution that worked for trial one of the problems, allowing them to solve trial two faster. If Jar A is filled with 43 cups of water and poured into Jar B, nine cups of water will be removed, leaving 34 cups in Jar A. If Jar A is poured into Jar C three times, it will get rid of 12 total cups of water, resulting in 22 cups in Jar A.

Trial three of this problem is solved in the same way, and people solve trial three even quicker than the first two trials. Jar A holds 24 cups of water, Jar B holds four cups of water, and Jar C holds three cups of water. The goal is to measure out 11 cups of water. Jar A is filled with 24 cups of water and poured into Jar B to get rid of four cups of water. The remaining 20 cups of water in Jar A is poured into Jar C three times to get rid of nine total cups of water, resulting in the final goal of 11 cups of water.

In trial four of this problem, Jar A can hold 35 cups of water, Jar B can hold 13 cups of water, and Jar C four cups of water with the final goal of having nine cups of water. This is the easiest of the trials. However, after solving the first three trials, most people have a long, difficult time solving this one. This is because they attempt to solve it with the same strategy that worked for the last three trials, filling Jar A with 35 cups of water, pouring it into Jar B to yield 22 cups of water, and then pouring it into Jar C three times. However, this leaves Jar A with 10 cups of water, which is not the goal volume. The answer is simple and involves filling Jar B with 13 cups of water and pouring four cups out into Jar C to end with nine cups of water. Despite this being the simplest trial, mental set causes many to struggle to solve it.

Unnecessary Constraints

An unnecessary constraint is another barrier to effective problem solving and occurs when individuals assume that there are rules that don’t actually exist. For example, in the problem depicted in Figure 1, nine circles need to be connected using four lines. The unnecessary constraint that most people believe is that there is a barrier around the circles that can’t be crossed. With this unnecessary constraint, drawing four lines to connect the nine circles is impossible. However, without this unnecessary constraint, there are several possible solutions, two of which are depicted, demonstrating how problem-solving can be made easier by removing unnecessary constraints.

To surpass barriers to effective problem solving, such as mental set and unnecessary constraints, it is necessary to think outside of the box and not be restricted to past strategies or constraints that don’t actually exist.

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• Published: 28 May 2020

Facilitators and barriers to participation in mental well-being programs by older Australians with vision impairment: community and stakeholder perspectives

• Lisa Dillon   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8124-6154 1 , 2 ,
• Diana Tang 3 ,
• Gerald Liew 3 ,
• Maree Hackett 2 , 4 ,
• Ashley Craig 5 ,
• Bamini Gopinath   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3573-359X 3 &
• Lisa Keay 1 , 2  

Eye volume  34 ,  pages 1287–1295 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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• Epidemiology

Older adults with vision impairment experience high rates of mental health problems, but very few access psychological support. We investigated community and stakeholder perspectives of the barriers and facilitators to participation in mental well-being programs for older adults with vision impairment.

Adults aged ≥ 50 years with vision impairment (community) were recruited from the client database, and low vision rehabilitation (LVR) professionals (stakeholders) from staff of a LVR provider. Participants completed one-on-one semi-structured interviews, which were designed and analyzed using behavior change theory.

Twenty-nine participants were interviewed; 16 community members and 13 stakeholders. Both groups cited mental health problems as a major concern, with many stakeholders reporting the grief and distress associated with vision loss experienced by their clients as having a negative impact on their mental and physical health. Major barriers to participation in mental well-being programs included a lack of awareness and difficulties accessing such programs, with stakeholders adding that their clients’ lack of insight into their own mental health problems may reduce motivation to participate. Facilitators to participation in programs included the appeal of social interaction and inspirational speakers. An appropriate intervention could overcome these barriers, or enhance participation through education, persuasion, incentivisation, modeling, environmental restructuring, training, and enablement.

Conclusions

While barriers were discussed more than facilitators to participation, there was general support for mental well-being programs. This study provides guidance from stakeholders for the development of mental well-being programs to address mental health problems in the growing number of older adults with vision impairment.

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Introduction.

Globally, it is estimated that the number of people living with vision impairment (encompassing low vision or blindness that cannot be corrected with glasses or surgery) will rise from 38.5 million in 2020 to 115 million people by 2050; most of which (78%) are aged 50 years or older [ 1 ]. Older age and vision impairment are associated with an increased risk of developing a mental health condition, particularly depression [ 2 ]. An estimated 69,519 nonindigenous Australians aged 50 years or above and 4282 indigenous Australians aged 40 years or above were living with irreversible vision impairment in 2016 [ 3 ]; all at consequent risk of mental health problems.

Older adults with vision impairment are approximately three times more likely to experience significant depressive symptoms, compared with those without vision impairment [ 2 , 4 ]. This is attributed to the impacts of vision impairment on functional capacity and activities of daily living [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Research suggests that low vision rehabilitation (LVR) services, and psychological interventions involving self-management and problem-solving, may be effective in reducing depressive symptoms and depressive disorders among adults with vision impairment [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. However, although 70% of adults with vision impairment report wanting psychological support, only 9% report receiving it [ 13 ], and it remains unclear why uptake of support is so low.

One study of LVR professionals’ (hereafter stakeholders) perspectives of a mental well-being program found a number of barriers to the problem-solving treatment for primary care (PST-PC) being delivered in a LVR setting, that could be overcome through professional training, support, and improved screening [ 14 ]. The only other study reported on the reasons older adults with vision impairment withdrew early from PST-PC, and found responses ranging from the program being perceived as not relevant, to the program goals being achieved early [ 10 ]. Given this scant literature, the aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the barriers and facilitators to participation in a mental well-being programs, from the perspectives of community-dwelling older adults with vision impairment (community members) and stakeholders.

Subjects and methods

This qualitative study involved semi-structured, one-on-one telephone, or face-to-face interviews with community members and stakeholders, including orientation and mobility specialists and optometrists. This study was conducted within New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia.

Community members and stakeholders were recruited using purposive sampling through invitation letters and follow-up phone calls between August and October 2019. To address the study aim, we expected to recruit up to 20 community members and up to 15 stakeholders for interview, or until data were saturated in each group, which was assessed by researchers (LD and LK) at regular meetings. Community members were recruited from the client database of an Australian vision rehabilitation organization, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. Clients who had consented to be contacted regarding research were sent an e-mail and invited to contact the research team directly to express interest in the study. Participants were required to be aged 50 years and older and speak conversational English. Stakeholder participants were employed in a client-facing capacity by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, and were similarly sent an e-mail and invited to contact the research team directly to express interest in the study.

The behavior change wheel [ 15 ] was used as a framework to design the interview guides (Supplementary Files  1 and 2 ), and consequent analysis of the data. The behavior of interest was participation in a mental well-being program. Specifically, the wheel uses the COM-B model to explain an individual’s propensity to adopt a behavior (see the inner wheel of Fig.  1 ). Behavior can be, in turn, targeted by nine intervention functions: coercion, education, enablement, environmental restructuring, incentivisation, modeling, persuasion, restriction, training [ 15 ]. The wheel also includes policy categories, which can impact the intervention functions; however, these were considered outside the scope of this study.

Barriers to participation appear in bold, while facilitators appear underlined, with their relative intervention function presented in the outer wheel.

Semi-structured interviews, lasting 15–45 min, were conducted by two Master of Clinical Optometry students (AW and RM) and a Faculty of Medicine and Health PhD student (DT). The students were given initial training and ongoing support by two experienced public health qualitative researchers (LD and LK). Interviews were audio recorded using digital recorders, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software, using deductive analysis [ 16 ], following the COM-B and intervention functions of the behavior change wheel [ 15 ]. We took an iterative approach to data analysis [ 17 ], whereby data were revisited, coded, and themes discussed many times to ensure analytic reflexivity. Transcripts were coded separately by two of the students (AW and RM). Initial coding was then presented and critiqued in a meeting including all three students, chaired by LD. Two of the students (AW and RM) then collaborated to establish themes under each subset of the COM-B model, which were discussed and agreed upon at regular fortnightly meetings with LD and LK. Themes were then coded using intervention functions, and categorized as barriers or facilitators to participation in a mental well-being program by LD and DT.

Patient and public involvement

No patient under medical care or members of the general public were involved in the design, recruitment, or conduct of the study. However, there will be formal engagement with the LVR provider’s advisory panel to discuss the next stages of developing and implementing a mental well-being program. Those participants who requested feedback will be informed via e-mail or telephone call about the results.

Ethics approval

Ethics approval was granted by the University of NSW Human Research Ethics Committee (HC190356). A participation information statement was sent to interested participants, and oral informed consent was gained before commencement of the interview. The study is reported in line with the COREQ statement [ 18 ], supporting transparency in reporting of qualitative research.

Of the 35 community members and stakeholders invited, 29 (83%, 16 community members and 13 stakeholders) completed an interview. The 13 stakeholders included 12 orientation and mobility specialists and one optometrist. All stakeholder interviews were conducted over the phone, while seven of the community participants requested face-to-face interviews in their homes due to difficulties with hearing and/or accessing a phone.

We identified 12 themes (Fig.  1 ); eight represented barriers, and four facilitators to mental well-being program participation. Illustrative quotes associated with each theme are presented below, with intervention functions in brackets next to the COM-B component. Participants are identified as C for community members and S for stakeholders, followed by an identification number.

Both participant groups showed a high level of interest through long and engaging discussions around the mental well-being of people with vision impairment. Stakeholders expressed that many of their clients have concerns regarding their mental well-being, indicating the importance of this topic and need for such programs:

“I’m finding most of the clients that I…work with, express that they have anxiety, depression, or have had nervous breakdowns, or are currently having mental health issues.” (S002)

Physical capability (Enablement and Training)

Mobility impacts participation.

Participants reported difficulties in mobility as a result of their vision loss, which prevented them from engaging with their community and/or programs:

“Because you can’t go out. That’s the biggest problem…” (C008)

“So, you don’t tread on little kids or get tangled up in dog leads…that’s always in the back of your mind. I think I’ll just stay at home.” (C004)

In particular, there were concerns regarding loss of the ability to drive:

“You’re not going to get them in a group scenario, but also they can’t drive so they can’t get to anywhere.” (S008)

Some participants also found that their mobility limitations and location of residence interfered with their ability to connect with other individuals with vision impairment and contributed to feelings of isolation:

“I would love to have a group of other people who were also vision impaired, but they seem to be scattered all over the country.” (C020)

Vision loss impacts everyday activities

The inability to accomplish activities of daily living deterred participation in programs and other activities:

“Because of their vision impairment, I don’t think they integrate as much with others in their community.” (S009)

“I can’t watch TV and I do like TV actually. I can’t read anything anymore and I used to love a newspaper.” (C020)

Psychological capability (Education, Training, and Enablement)

Ripple effects.

Stakeholders expressed concerns about mental health problems extending into other aspects of their client’s lives and preventing participation in mental well-being programs:

“Stress and mental health, the physiological changes to the body… impacts on people’s functional vision. There’s all these ripple effects if the mental health component is not addressed.” (S006)

“I’d be the only person they’d see that week and maybe they’d have a cry…need to work through the issues they have before they can start doing routes and getting out in their community.” (S015)

Self-perception of mental health

The acknowledgment of having a mental health problem varied among participants:

“One very good friend who’s also legally blind…when I bring up the subject with him he says, Oh, better not even to think about it. And he’s not really getting all the services that he should be getting as a blind person.” (C004)

“Has it affected me? I lost my licence. I’m pretty much housebound. My doctor wants me to see… a psychologist. And I said, No, I’m not that bad.” (C008)

“I try to prepare myself for the future, but I don’t think it’s affected my mental health, as far as others are concerned anyway.” (C009)

Physical opportunity (Environmental Restructuring and Enablement)

Facilitation of services.

Participants expressed concerns about their ability to access mental well-being programs following their vision loss:

“When I lost my sight I had to really scrabble and… call for information.” (C007)

“If there is support, they [support provider] could call our clients …[so] the client doesn’t have to initiate [seeking services] themselves…because I have a lot of clients who once they lose their vision, they’re not able to navigate a phone.” (S003)

Stakeholders also expressed their concerns about how they can best assist their clients to receive support for their mental health problems:

“If we had a script or a proper format that once a client has identified that they’ve got mental health issues that we should say because you’ve mentioned that to us can we write some information down and pass it on to someone to suggest help or at least to refer.” (S013)

Lack of awareness of services

Community and stakeholders were unaware of current mental well-being programs targeted at Australians with vision impairment:

“I’m not aware of any program for… people with vision impairment.” (S012)

“In a major Sydney hospital and they didn’t ever say to me that I needed to be referred to Vision Australia or Guide Dogs or anywhere like that. And I just said, Okay, well, I can do this. But the trouble is I couldn’t see.” (C005)

Social opportunity (Environmental restructuring, Enablement, and Modeling)

Stigma about mental health problems.

Participants described the negative stigma surrounding mental health issues as a barrier to participation:

“…it doesn’t seem to be talked about a lot.” (C015)

“People have a perception, there’s still a stigma around mental illness, so a lot of them might not disclose.” (S005)

“I would say don’t call it a mental health program.” (C005)

Reflective motivation (Education, Persuasion, and Incentivisation)

Grief associated with vision loss.

Feelings of grief and beliefs regarding vision loss can make participation and engagement unmotivating:

“If a person is depressed and feels like they can’t do anything, then it’s likely they’re not going to go into orientation or mobility training with high expectations, and a good learning frame of mind.” (S012)

Facilitators

Community connections.

The desire for a connection to the community particularly with those experiencing similar vision loss was described by participants:

“…having a group that comes together that has a focus on adapting to change and understanding… I think is fairly powerful.” (C015)

“Although technology and online stuff is cool and innovative…it sort of takes away from that human connection that you have when you sit in the same room as somebody.” (S015)

“There’s others there to talk to and pass the time of day with. It’s not a discussion group, it’s just to pass the time. You know, with the social aspect of it, but they’re getting to know me.” (C003)

“For so long I just thought our family was a family of freaks because not knowing of anyone else that had it…30 years ago I joined up with the Nepean Blind Sports Club…I met a couple of people with the same condition and… went to social events out there.” (C012)

Who can facilitate mental well-being programs

Participants also expressed their opinions about who they think would be best suited to deliver low vision mental well-being programs. Different levels of expertise were articulated ranging from lay-facilitators to mental health professionals like psychologists:

“Anybody who has got group-based skills and some level of working with groups.” (C005)

“I always feel that if someone’s been through a situation they’re the ones I think are the better ones.” (C012)

A consultant psychologist with a good knowledge of grief… it would be great to be able to run scenarios by that person. And say, this is what I’m dealing with, or this is what I’ve done. It would be lovely to be able to say to clients If you want to talk more about this, we have a psychologist on staff that might be able to give you a ring.” (S004)

“It would be good if we had one person that they could make a call to that has more specific information and then can put them in touch with people in their own area… or what organisations are close to them.” (S013)

Automatic motivation (Modeling and Enablement)

Inspiration/role model.

Some participants stated how a role model is an inspiring motivation for participating in mental well-being programs:

“Those have been some of our better meetings when we’ve been inspired by others in other words.” (C009)

“…hearing people’s stories about how they might have done it is really powerful for people who might be going through that part of the process.” (C005)

Self-efficacy

Many participants believed they were self-sufficient and capable of handling their own issues:

“I can’t change it, I’ve just got to learn to adjust to it and that’s just going to be my life.” (C011)

“I don’t feel sorry for myself, there’s no point. I’ve got two legs, I can walk, so life’s good.” (C022)

Consistent with evidence of the high burden of mental health problems in older adults with vision impairment [ 2 , 4 ], we found strong interest in developing mental well-being programs among community members and stakeholders. The interviews revealed that both groups acknowledged the substantial negative impacts of mental health problems. However, both groups were unaware of any mental well-being programs specific to people with vision impairment, thus, confirming the importance of developing a mental well-being program tailored to this population group.

We identified two times more barriers than facilitators (i.e., eight vs. four) to effective participation in a mental well-being program. The intervention function Enablement was relevant to all three facilitators, and the majority of barriers. Enablement refers to increasing means, and reducing barriers [ 15 ], and is key to designing a program for this population. A major concern related to Enablement, along with Environmental Restructuring (changing the physical or social context [ 15 ]), was functional disability. Many community members felt that vision loss limited their capability and opportunity to access programs due to difficulty in reading or finding information, and traveling to where programs were held. Travel concerns are a common barrier in this population [ 19 ], and are influenced by the severity of vision impairment, distance to program location, and availability of support people. Recommendations to overcome these barriers, as they relate to intervention functions [ 15 ], include: producing material in larger, easy-to-read print (Enablement); LVR professionals telling community members what options are available (Education; increasing knowledge or understanding); and program organizers making community transport available (Environmental Restructuring) or provide orientation and mobility services (Training; imparting skills), if travel is required.

In addition to physical limitations, the acknowledgment of having a mental health problem influenced participation and varied among participants. Some mentioning conditions like depression and anxiety, others downplaying any concerns and associating it with complaining, and the remainder stating that their vision loss did not have any impact on their mental health. The intervention functions of Modeling (an example for people to aspire to or imitate) and Education are particularly relevant to alleviate these concerns and key to tackling the barriers of social stigma and self-perception. Nyman et al. [ 20 ] identified that vision impairment can impact psychosocial well-being through social isolation; while acceptance of vision loss and social support were facilitators of adjustment. We also identified self-efficacy as a facilitator, which has been shown to lead to good mental health outcomes in other contexts [ 21 ]. Given there was general consensus among both groups of the benefits of social connection and positive role models, it is recommended interventions include this in their design.

A pilot feasibility study in Australia recently investigated the delivery of PST-PC by LVR professionals to older adults with vision impairment who met the criteria for mild symptoms of depression [ 10 ]. PST-PC, based on cognitive behavioral therapy principles, is a low-intensity approach designed to assist with functional adjustment, resilience building, and generalized well-being. PST-PC can be delivered by nonmental health professionals, face-to-face, as well as over the phone, or over video conference, significantly increasing its reach. Holloway et al. [ 10 ] found that those that who stayed in the study had significant reductions in depressive symptoms, and improvements in health-related quality-of-life and problem-focused coping. Those who withdrew from the study early were typically older, with complex needs, as has been found in other studies [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Thus, it is critical that any future interventions must consider methods to retain adherence of older participants with competing health priorities.

Varying levels of mental health problems and requirements for support were reported by community members as well as stakeholders about their clients. A stepped-care approach may be the most efficient in this context, as not all clients require the same type or intensity of intervention [ 25 ]. Stepped-care comprises different intervention components, with the idea that if the first, less intensive step does not lead to a reduction in symptoms, then a person moves to the next step, consisting of more intensive and potentially more expensive interventions [ 9 ]. Several randomized controlled trials conducted outside the field of low vision have found that a stepped-care approach can be effective in minimizing depression and/or anxiety [ 26 , 27 ], and has been endorsed to address depression in older adults in clinical guidelines, such as the UK NICE guidelines [ 28 ]. The ideas for interventions identified in this study could be integrated within a stepped-care approach, including social groups, psychologist referral, and PST-PC.

Strengths and limitations

This is the first study to explore the perspectives of older adults with vision impairment and client-facing professionals involved in LVR regarding mental health problems. The inclusion of client-facing professionals provides essential insight needed to design a stakeholder-driven intervention. A second strength is the semi-structured nature of the interviews, which allowed for tailored discussions to explore each participant’s personal outlook and interpretation of the impacts of mental health problems and vision impairment. However, this also resulted in interviews of varying length, and occasional tangents in conversation. Despite compelling findings, the authors acknowledge that the study is limited to one community organization and therefore the presented results are only a preliminary indicator of the mental health perspectives in this population group. Moreover, community member participants were recruited through purposive sampling from the client base of one Australian LVR provider, and specifically only those clients who had agreed to be contacted about participating in research, and had also agreed to participate in this particular study. This potential selection bias may have influenced our results, and may limit the generalizability of findings to those not associated with an Australian LVR provider, or those not interested in participating in research or this particular study. Similarly, stakeholder participants were orientation and mobility specialists and one optometrist from the one Australian LVR organization, which may limit the generalizability of findings to these LVR providers in other organizations, or other professions involved in LVR, such as occupational therapists, orthoptists, assistive technology specialists, and social workers. Nonetheless, as data saturation was achieved, we are confident the range of themes and corresponding intervention functions suitably address the study aim. Furthermore, information on visual acuity, cause of vision loss, and presence of comorbidities was not available for collection. This information may have been valuable in terms of interpreting the qualitative data.

This study has several key implications for clinical practice. First, improving the mental well-being of visually impaired older adults is a priority. We postulate this may enhance their participation in other programs, such as orientation and mobility, and this, in turn, could improve their physical health, community connections, and overall well-being. Second, LVR professionals, such as orientation and mobility specialists and optometrists, are in a unique position to identify those at risk of, or already experiencing mental health problems and can refer as necessary, if provided with the necessary training. Third, older adults with vision impairment may benefit from appropriate education and training to better support them as they adjust to living with a vision impairment. We suggest this may be in the form of evidence-based education regarding their vision diagnosis and prognosis, or psychological support from an appropriately trained mental health practitioner. Fourth, providing older adults with vision impairment the opportunity to connect with others in similar situations, as well as those who are living well with vision impairment, is likely to improve their community connections and social engagement. As a next step, the suggestions for future interventions collected here will be presented through round tables with older adults with vision impairment and service providers. This will ensure that any developed strategies are practical and acceptable to the community and stakeholders, with the aim to improve the ultimate adoption and scalability of a mental well-being program.

What was known before

Older adults with vision impairment experience high rates of mental health problems.

Although the majority of older adults want psychological support, very few receive it.

What this study adds

Both older adults with vision impairment, and the professionals who work with them consider mental health problems as a major concern.

Facilitators to participation in mental health programs include community connection and inspirational speakers.

Barriers to participation include lack of awareness of programs, physical limitations, and self-perception of mental health.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge students Rachel Muyco and Aimee Wassermann for conducting many of the semi-structured interviews along with DT. We would also like to acknowledge Kerrie Ren for her assistance with study administration, as well as Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.

This research was funded by the UNSW Sydney-University of Sydney: Mental Health and Wellbeing—Early Intervention and Prevention (Older People) Seed Funding Scheme.

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Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, The University of Sydney, 176 Hawkesbury Road Westmead, Sydney, NSW, 2145, Australia

Diana Tang, Gerald Liew & Bamini Gopinath

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Dillon, L., Tang, D., Liew, G. et al. Facilitators and barriers to participation in mental well-being programs by older Australians with vision impairment: community and stakeholder perspectives. Eye 34 , 1287–1295 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-020-0992-z

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Received : 23 February 2020

Revised : 17 May 2020

Accepted : 19 May 2020

Published : 28 May 2020

Issue Date : July 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-020-0992-z

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