Depression literacy in urban and suburban residents of Tehran, the Capital of Iran; Recognition, help seeking and stigmatizing attitude and the predicting factors

Abstract

Background: Recognizing the mental health literacy condition among the people is an important step towards promotion of mental health of a society. This study has been conducted to evaluate the depression literacy among Tehran city and its suburban residents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 18- to 68-year-old residents in Tehran city and suburb in 2017. Sampling in Tehran city was conducted using Random Digit Dialing (RDD) and 1340 people were recruited. In suburb Shamsabad and Salehabad from south of Tehran were considered as clusters and data gathering conducted by face to face interview. Depression literacy was assessed by a structured questionnaire. After introducing a vignette with a psychiatric disorder, participants were questioned in the domains of recognition of the disorder, intention to seek help and attitudes toward social stigma. Results: Correct recognition was 52.2% and 30% and intention to seek help was 54% and 33.3% in Tehran city and suburb, respectively. Female gender ( P < 0.001), age increasing ( P = 0.002) and higher education ( P < 0.001) significantly scaled up the chance of correct recognition of depression, when female gender ( P = 0.001), increasing age ( P < 0.001), and being married ( P = 0.01) could significantly improve the probability of seeking help. Results also showed that being married ( P = 0.005) and higher education ( P < 0.001) predicted lower stigma. Conclusions: Overall depression literacy in Tehran city and suburb was low, so intervention among target population in order to increase the depression literacy seems to be necessary.

Mental health literacy and quality of life in Iran: a cross-sectional study

“…The results of this study showed that there was a significant relationship between sex and MHL, and MHL was higher in women than men. The results of this study were consistent with the results of other The results of various studies showed that women had a higher level of MHL than men [42,43], had a greater ability to recognize mental disorders [40,44], and were more likely to seek professional mental health services than men [45]. Also, women tend to know more about mental health and are more inclined to interact with people with mental disorders [46,47].…”

“…The results of another study showed that people who helped search for mental health received their required information from family and friends rather than mental health professionals [39]. The results of Ghadirian's study also showed that most people had asked friends and family for help when using mental health services, respectively [40]. People achieve mental health information from various sources that may not be reliable.…”

“…The results of various studies showed that there was a significant relationship between education level and MHL and with increasing education level, MHL level also improves [38,48]. Also, with an increasing education level, the ability to recognize mental disorders significantly has improved significantly [40,44].…”

“…The results of a study among people with depressive symptoms indicated that only 18 to 24% of them were looking for help from specialists [54]. The ability to recognize mental disorders is the first step in seeking information and asking for help, which ultimately leads the person to seek available treatment [40]. Due to the social stigma and embarrassment of mental disorders, many people usually refuse to see a psychologist/psychiatrist or seek professional help [54].…”

A survey of mental health literacy in Japanese high school teachers

“…This gender difference was observed for all three illnesses, not only for schizophrenia. This may be in line with previous studies which observed the same trend in the general population [47][48][49][50][51][52][53]. In contrast to the gender difference, the level of education in teachers did not have a significant effect on knowledge score and recognition of specific mental illnesses.…”