A central stream of research for our lab focused on using theories of persuasion, motivation, and emotion, in tandem with clinical scholarship on the depressogenic schema, to develop approaches for increasing help-seeking among people with depression. As we have described (Siegel et al., 2017; Yzer & Siegel, 2025), increasing help-seeking among people with depression can have life-saving implications and is one of the most difficult persuasive challenges to be undertaken. The depressogenic schema does not only negatively bias thoughts about the self, the past, and the future (Beck, 1967), but it also negatively biases thoughts about help-seeking and how help-seeking messages are processed.

Illustrative of the challenge associated with persuading people with depression, messages targeting people with the illness have caused increased rather than reduced self-stigma (Lienemann et al., 2013). Moreover, anti-stigma messages designed to increase the provision of support to those with mental illness have been found to cause negative affect in one in four people with depression (Siegel et al., 2019; see Siegel & Yzer, 2025, for a discussion).

Fortunately, decades of social psychology scholarship offer guidance on maximizing the persuasive strength of messages seeking to increase help-seeking. Guided by clinical scholarship on the thought patterns of people with depression, we peruse social psychological theorizing to find the persuasive, motivational, and emotional approaches that can thwart the depressogenic schema. We have found success with approaches such as the overheard communication technique (Siegel et al., 2015), positive emotion infusions (Siegel & Thomson, 2017; Straszewski & Siegel, 2018), self-distancing (Hollar & Siegel, 2023), and attitude function matching (Lienemann & Siegel, 20??). We have also learned that some approaches are less successful. This includes descriptive norms (Falco & Siegel, 2025), autonomy-supportive language (Lienemann & Siegel, 2016), and an affective forecasting approach (Roy & Siegel. 2025).

We have used this research to guide our work with HCA Healthcare and the development of an intervention for the Department of Defense (see BADL for more information).

Relevant Publications:

*indicates the author was a student at the time the research was conducted.

M. C. Yzer & J. T. Siegel (Eds). (2025). Handbook of Mental Health Communication. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Yzer, M. & Siegel, J. (2025). Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging. In G. de Bruijn & H. Vandebosch (Ed.), Health, media, and communication (pp. 391–410). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110775426-021

Siegel, J. T., & Tan, C. N.* (2025). Investigating help-seeking attitudes among people with varying levels of depressive symptomatology: An attitude-strength diagnostic approach. In M. C. Yzer & J. T. Siegel (Eds), Handbook of mental health communication. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Siegel, J. T., & Yzer, M. C. (2025). Maximizing mental health communication: The IIFF Model of help seeking for depression. In M. C. Yzer & J. T. Siegel (Eds), Handbook of mental health communication. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Straszewski, T., & Siegel, J. T. (2025). Positive emotion infusions as a means of increasing help seeking among people experiencing depression. In M. C. Yzer & J. T. Siegel (Eds), Handbook of mental health communication. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Siegel, J. T., Ellis, B.*, Riazi, G.*, Brafford, A.*, Guldner, G., & Wells, J. C. (2024). The paradox of the resident experiencing depression: Higher depression, less favorable help-seeking outcome expectations, and lower help-seeking intentions. Social Science and Medicine, 344(6), Article 116593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116593

Guldner, G., Siegel, J. T., Broadbent, C., Ayutyanont, N., Streletz, D. Popa, A., Fuller, J., & Sisemore, T. (2024). Use of an opt-out vs. opt-in strategy for residency mental health services increases resident use. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 16(2), 195–201.https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-23-00460.1

Hollar, S. M.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2023). Increasing help-seeking among people with depression by self-distancing using mental time-travel. Journal of Mental Health, 32(3), 575–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2022.2118684

Straszewski, T.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2021). From writing tasks to a public service announcement: Experimentally assessing savoring as a means of increasing help-seeking for depression. Social Science and Medicine, 287, Article 114362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114362. 

Straszewski, T.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2020). Differential effects of high- and low-arousal positive emotions on help-seeking for depression. Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being, 12, 887–906. https://doi: 10.1111/aphw.12214

Hollar, S. M.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2020). Self-distancing as a path to help-seeking for people with depression. Social Science and Medicine, 245, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112700

Siegel, J. T., & Keeler, A.* (2020). Storm, stress, and silence: A focus group examination of factors that exacerbate mental health problems in graduate students who have prior experiences with depression. Journal of College Counseling, 23, 207–220. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12166

Lienemann, B. A.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2019). A mixed methods approach to creating depression public service announcements by collaborating with people with depressive symptomatology. Journal of Health Communication, 24(11), 801–820. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2019.1670762

Siegel, J. T., Flores-Mendal, E.*, Martinez, D.*, & Berger, D. E. (2019). Can mental health anti-stigma messages have untoward effects on some people with depression? An exploratory study. Journal of Health Communication, 24(11), 821–828. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2019.1672838

Lienemann, B. A.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2018). Increasing help-seeking outcomes among people with elevated depressive symptomatology with public service announcements: An examination of function matching and message sidedness. Journal of Health Communication, 23(1), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2017.1396630

Straszewski, T.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2018). Positive emotion infusions: Can savoring increase help-seeking intentions among people with depression? Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being, 10(1), 171–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12122

Siegel, J. T., Lienemann, B. A.*, & Rosenberg, B. D.* (2017). Resistance, reactance, and misinterpretation: Highlighting the challenge of persuading people with depression to seek help. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11(6), Article e12322. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12322

Siegel, J. T., & Thomson, A. T.* (2017). Positive emotion infusions of elevation and gratitude: Increasing help-seeking among people with elevated levels of depressive symptomatology. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(6), 509–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1221125

Keeler, A.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2016). Depression, help seeking, and perceived family functioningamong Hispanics and Non-Hispanics Whites. Journal of Affective Disorders, 202, 236–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.05.017

Lienemann, B. A.*, & Siegel, J. T. (2016). State psychological reactance to depression public service announcements among people with varying levels of depressive symptomatology. Health Communication, 31(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2014.940668

Siegel, J. T., Lienemann, B. A.*, & Tan, C. N.* (2015). Influencing help-seeking among people with elevated depressive symptomatology: Mistargeting as a persuasive technique. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(2), 242–255. https://doi-org.ccl.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/2167702614542846

Keeler, A. R.*, Siegel, J. T., & Alvaro, E. M. (2014). Depression and help seeking among Mexican-Americans: The mediating role of familism. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16(6), 1225–1231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-013-9824-6

Lienemann, B. A., Siegel, J. T., & Crano, W. D. (2013). Persuading people with depression to seek help: Respect the boomerang. Health Communication, 28(7), 718–728. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.712091