Mental Health Literacy of The Public
Because of the high prevalence of mental disorders over the lifetime, it has been argued that everyone will either develop one of these disorders themselves or have close contact with someone else who does. Consequently, members of the public need to have some knowledge to allow them to recognize, prevent and seek early help for mental disorders. They also need to have the skills to support other people in their social network who develop a mental disorder.
Surveys of the public have been carried out in a number of countries to investigate mental health literacy. These surveys show that recognition of mental disorders is lacking and reveal negative beliefs about some standard psychiatric treatments, particularly medications. On the other hand, psychological, complementary and self-help methods are viewed much more positively. Negative attitudes towards people with mental disorders have been found, such as viewing them as having a weak character. These beliefs and attitudes are potential barriers to seeking optimal professional help and being supportive of others.
Read more about this topic: Mental Health Literacy
Famous quotes containing the words mental health, mental, health and/or public:
“A major misunderstanding of child rearing has been the idea that meeting a child’s needs is an end in itself, for the purpose of the child’s mental health. Mothers have not understood that this is but one step in social development, the goal of which is to help a child begin to consider others. As a result, they often have not considered their children but have instead allowed their children’s reality to take precedence, out of a fear of damaging them emotionally.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“You don’t want to be an animal, you want to observe your own animal functions, so as to get a mental thrill out of them. It is all purely secondary—and more decadent than the most hide-bound intellectualism.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Woman ... cannot be content with health and agility: she must make exorbitant efforts to appear something that never could exist without a diligent perversion of nature. Is it too much to ask that women be spared the daily struggle for superhuman beauty in order to offer it to the caresses of a subhumanly ugly mate?”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“Deacon King was tried for violating the Sabbath, and so hot was the debate that it was referred to the church council, which ultimately decided, after long and grave debate, that the deacon had committed a ‘work of necessity and mercy.’”
—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)