Consumers Face 'Turbulent Journey' for Mental Illness Treatment Services

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When a mental health crisis strikes, families are often thrust into a world they never expected to navigate – one filled with uncertainty, emotional exhaustion and impossible decisions. A study published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science examines what researchers call the “Turbulent Consumer Journey,” a prolonged, crisis-ridden, high- consequence journey that places families on a deeply uncertain path to navigate while seeking treatment for mental illness.

A team of researchers, including Ann M. Mirabito, Ph.D., professor of marketing in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and a recognized scholar on the use of marketing science to improve consumer well-being, examined how individuals with mental illness and their loved ones struggle to make sense of fragmented systems of care while desperately searching for answers. Mirabito and the research team found that families often move through recurring cycles of hope, confusion, frustration and adaptation as they attempt to secure treatment and stability. Unlike traditional consumer experiences, families on a Turbulent Consumer Journey navigating mental illness often do not know what treatments will work, how to evaluate providers or even what outcomes are possible. 

 “There’s no clear path forward,” Mirabito said. “Participants of the study described feeling ‘hijacked, blindfolded and handcuffed.’”

One of the study’s most significant findings is the emotional toll created by uncertainty. Participants described feeling trapped between the urgency to act and the lack of reliable information to guide decisions. Many parents reported cycling through numerous doctors, therapists and medications while struggling to determine whether treatment failures were caused by ineffective providers, flawed systems or the illness itself.

Mirabito and her team uncovered three predictable phases of the Turbulent Consumer Journey: the invisible embarkation, the long and winding road and the unexpected destination.

Invisible embarkation 

The first phase begins long before families realize they are on the journey at all. Early warning signs such as anxiety, emotional withdrawal or behavioral changes are often dismissed as stress, personality traits or adolescence until a crisis forces families to recognize the seriousness of the situation.

“People initially think, ‘I’ll get treatment and everything will be fine.’ What they discover is that mental healthcare is much more complicated,” Mirabito said.

Long and winding road 

The second phase captures the exhausting search for answers as families progress through doctors, diagnoses, medications and therapies while dealing with repeated setbacks and uncertainty. The study highlights how fragmented mental healthcare systems place enormous responsibility on families to coordinate treatment. Many participants described becoming overwhelmed coordinators of care, responsible for advocating for services and making high-stakes decisions in systems they felt unprepared to navigate.

“Families often enter the mental illness treatment journey believing the crisis will be manageable,” Mirabito said. “The painful reality is that families are often forced to make life-altering decisions without clear information, predictable outcomes or confidence that the system itself will help them reach stability.”

Unexpected destination 

The final phase reflects the moment many families begin to accept a “new normal.” Rather than reaching a complete return to life before diagnosis, participants described learning to manage ongoing uncertainty while building resilience, redefining expectations and finding meaning within difficult circumstances.

“This stage of the journey is marked by radical acceptance – recognizing that mental illness may remain part of life while still finding ways to grow, adapt and hope,” Mirabito said.

Improving the System

Mirabito and her team assert that improving mental healthcare requires more than expanding treatment access. By recognizing the emotional and logistical burdens placed on consumers, the study calls for systems of care that reduce unnecessary uncertainty, improve care coordination and better support families trying to navigate complex decisions under pressure. 

Beyond mental health, the researchers said the findings may apply to other high-stakes consumer experiences marked by crisis and uncertainty, including cancer treatment, caregiving and major financial hardship.

“Our findings show that consumers are often forced to become the architects of their own care journeys,” Mirabito said. “Understanding how people make sense of uncertainty can help organizations build systems that are more compassionate, coordinated and effective.”

Mirabito said the findings can help healthcare providers, policymakers and organizations better understand the realities families face while navigating mental illness treatment.

“When we better understand what the journey is like from the perspective of the patient, it gives systems designers an opportunity to design for the patient’s actual experience,” Mirabito said.

In addition to Mirabito, study co-authors were Justine Rapp Farrell, Ph.D., University of San Diego; Jane E. Machin, Ph.D., Willamette University; Elizabeth Crosby, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin La Crosse; and Natalie Ross Adkins, Ph.D., Drake University.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann M. Mirabito, Ph.D., is a professor of marketing at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business and an internationally recognized scholar on the use of marketing science to improve consumer well-being. Her research is published in leading marketing and medical journals, including the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Annals of Internal Medicine and Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Mirabito focuses research on well-being in the marketplace, at work and in healthcare, with a specific focus on threats to well-being from stigma, mental illness, risk and uncertainty. Her research has implications for consumer behavior, marketing strategy and public policy. She is frequently interviewed by national media and consults with leading organizations and government agencies.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more about Baylor University at www.baylor.edu.

ABOUT THE HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business strives to further God’s kingdom through the realm of business, using God-given gifts and academic talents to do so. Faculty and students conduct purposeful research and participate in experiential learning opportunities, all while operating in a Christ-centered mission. Undergraduate students can choose from 13 major areas of study. Graduate students can earn their MBA on their terms, either through the full-time, online or a Dallas-based executive program. The Business School also offers three Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The School’s top-ranked programs make up approximately 25% of the University’s total enrollment. Visit the Hankamer School of Business website for more information.