Introduction

Travel requires various skills such as concentration, interpretation of information, and the confidence to take decisions and interact with other people. Mental illness can affect these skills and so cause barriers to travel. These issues are explored in this paper using the results from a cross-sectional on-line survey.

Methods

The survey focussed on domestic travel. The link to the survey was distributed by eighteen mental health or transport organizations and three individuals through social media, newsletters and websites. Weightings were applied to make the results more representative of the national population with mental health conditions.

Results

89% of the respondents had anxiety and 76% were depressed. The biggest cause of anxiety was interacting with fellow travellers, both in terms of how they behaved and how the respondents felt that others perceived them. The second main cause of anxiety was needing support when travelling, both feeling out of control and requiring help from other people. Having to feel in control reflected another cause of anxiety: having to take action in an unfamiliar environment, because the method of travel has failed or because of the need to find suitable toilet facilities. Wayfinding caused anxiety in terms of feelings of disorientation, being lost and having to find the way. The fifth area of anxiety revolved around interacting with staff such as bus drivers and buying tickets. A high proportion of respondents had fluctuations in their health condition from day to day that meant that sometimes they could not leave home. Many of them were unable to commit to buying rail tickets in advance.

Conclusions

People with mental health conditions have difficulty travelling because of various barriers that they face. Changes such as clearer, comprehensive travel information, better-designed buses, trains and infrastructure and quieter, calmer, less crowded journeys would enable them to travel more.

中文翻译：

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心理健康和旅行行为

介绍

旅行需要各种技能，例如注意力集中、信息解释以及做出决定和与他人互动的信心。精神疾病会影响这些技能，从而导致旅行障碍。本文使用横截面在线调查的结果对这些问题进行了探讨。

方法

该调查侧重于国内旅行。该调查的链接由 18 个心理健康或交通组织以及 3 个个人通过社交媒体、时事通讯和网站分发。应用加权以使结果更能代表有心理健康状况的全国人口。

结果

89% 的受访者有焦虑症，76% 有抑郁症。焦虑的最大原因是与其他旅行者的互动，无论是他们的行为方式还是受访者对其他人的看法。焦虑的第二个主要原因是旅行时需要支持，既感觉失控又需要其他人的帮助。不得不感到掌控感反映了焦虑的另一个原因：不得不在陌生的环境中采取行动，因为旅行方式失败或因为需要找到合适的厕所设施。寻路在迷失方向、迷路和必须找到路的感觉方面引起焦虑。第五个焦虑领域是与巴士司机等工作人员互动和买票。很大一部分受访者的健康状况每天都在波动，这意味着他们有时无法离开家。他们中的许多人无法承诺提前购买火车票。

结论

有心理健康问题的人由于面临各种障碍而难以旅行。更清晰、更全面的旅行信息、设计更好的公共汽车、火车和基础设施以及更安静、更平静、不那么拥挤的旅程等变化将使他们能够旅行更多。