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 and/or public:
“Words convey the mental treasures of one period to the generations that follow; and laden with this, their precious freight, they sail safely across gulfs of time in which empires have suffered shipwreck and the languages of common life have sunk into oblivion.”
—Anonymous. Quoted in Richard Chevenix Trench, On the Study of Words, lecture 1 (1858)
“The fact that the mental health establishment has equated separation with health, equated women’s morality with soft-heartedness, and placed mothers on the psychological hot seat has taken a toll on modern mothers.”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)
“The candidate tells us we are the “backbone of the State,” and we know that it is true, not because we are possessed of certain endowed virtues, but because we are a majority and have the vote.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)