Perceptions and barriers in mental health services: A systematic review (2010–2025)

Identifying the perceptions of service users and professionals regarding mental health services is key to understanding the gap between the supply of and demand for care. This systematic review (PRISMA 2020; EBSCOhost, SAGE Journals, Taylor & Francis Online, and SciELO; 2010–2025) identified these perceptions and the accessibility of services. Thirty-three studies were included and synthesized through thematic and narrative analysis, from which five cross-cutting themes and four population groups emerged. Users and professionals converge in an unfavorable perception of access and in identifying structural barriers (cost, waiting times, fragmentation, staff shortages), but diverge in how they situate suffering: individual and psychobiological for professionals, social and cultural for users. Stigma falls less on distress than on the act of seeking consultation, and its institutional dimension is reported almost exclusively by those who experience it, whereas professionals locate it in the community. Despite community-oriented regulatory frameworks, services remain hospital-based and regulated by severity, while community care practices emerge outside the system. These results call for a participatory and culturally situated approach that recognizes users’ knowledge and integrates sociocultural barriers into the design and evaluation of services.