Volume 5 Issue 10 October 2015
“Mental Health Literacy” (MHL) refers to knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention. MHL has components (Jorm et al, 1997) like the ability to recognize specific disorders; knowing how to seek mental health information; knowledge of risk factors and causes, knowledge of self-treatments, and of professional help available and attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate help-seeking. Thus MHL can have enduring effects on various facets of mental health such as stigma of psychiatric disorders.
Stigma is combination of lack of knowledge (ignorance), negative attitudes (prejudice) and discriminative behavior (discrimination). Many Indian studies have shown that negative attitudes towards mental illness are widespread. Stigma leads to social exclusion, noncompliance to effective treatment and acts as an obstacle to recovery. Stigma is universal and involves not only lay persons but also various health professionals.
The belief that mental illness is incurable or self-inflicted can also be damaging, leading to patients not being referred for appropriate mental health care, leading to underuse of available mental health services. There is also a neglect of psychiatry as a discipline at the undergraduate level.
Interventions to improve Mental Health Literacy
Psychiatric stigma needs to be addressed by protest, contact and education
Activities to improve MHL can be considered in terms of:
Scope – universal (i.e. targeting the whole population or groups), or selective (i.e. to particular subgroups); Mode of delivery – e.g. mass media, brochures, oral presentations by experts and/or community leaders etc. and Setting – e.g. whole communities, hospitals, schools etc.
Educational interventions: Lectures/ seminars/ workshops conducted by experts
Mental Health Awareness Training Sessions (one or two days): These training sessions can be given to medical students, psychology students, nursing personnel, health workers, primary health care doctors and teachers
Social contact: Individuals affected by mental illness share their personal stories/experiences. Such contact can be the most important factor in reducing stigma & increasing awareness
Filmed social contact: By showing mental health related movies and DVDs. This is cost effective and potential to reach larger audiences
By changing medical students’ curriculum and training in psychiatry
Dept. of Psychiatry, GMERS Medical College and General Hospital, Gandhi nagar
Email: dr_bmlakdawala@yahoo.co.in
