“Mental health literacy”: a survey of the public's ability to recognise mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the public's recognition of mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of various treatments (“mental health literacy”). Design: A cross‐sectional survey, in 1995, with structured interviews using vignettes of a person with either depression or schizophrenia. Participants: A representative national sample of 2031 individuals aged 18–74 years; 1010 participants were questioned about the depression vignette and 1021 about the schizophrenia vignette. Results: Most of the participants recognised the presence of some sort of mental disorder: 72% for the depression vignette (correctly labelled as depression by 39%) and 84% for the schizophrenia vignette (correctly labelled by 27%). When various people were rated as likely to be helpful or harmful for the person described in the vignette for depression, general practitioners (83%) and counsellors (74%) were most often rated as helpful, with psychiatrists (51%) and psychologists (49%) less so. Corresponding data for the schizophrenia vignette were: counsellors (81%), GPs (74%), psychiatrists (71%) and psychologists (62%). Many standard psychiatric treatments (antidepressants, antipsychotics, electroconvulsive therapy, admission to a psychiatric ward) were more often rated as harmful than helpful, and some nonstandard treatments were rated highly (increased physical or social activity, relaxation and stress management, reading about people with similar problems). Vitamins and special diets were more often rated as helpful than were antidepressants and antipsychotics. Conclusion: If mental disorders are to be recognised early in the community and appropriate intervention sought, the level of mental health literacy needs to be raised. Further, public understanding of psychiatric treatments can be considerably improved.

Labels used by young people to describe mental disorders: which ones predict effective help-seeking choices?

“…for which unprompted responses were recorded. Interviewers recorded responses according to pre-coded response categories (depression, schizophrenia, psychosis, mental illness, stress, nervous breakdown, psychological/mental/ emotional problem, has a problem, cancer, nothing, do not know) derived from a content analysis of responses to the same questions in earlier surveys [34,35]. A content analysis of responses that did not fit these pre-coded categories led to post-coding of 56 other categories.…”

Wissensstand und Einstellungen der Allgemeinbevölkerung zu Symptomen, Ursachen und Behandlungsmöglichkeiten depressiver Erkrankungen

“…65% nannten Psychotherapie als empfehlenswert und 26% glaubten, dass Behandlung entweder nicht möglich oder nötig sei. Jorm et al [5,6] Ergebnisse der Defeat Depression Campaign [7] zeigten, dass Wissen und Einstellungen der breiten Öffentlichkeit beeinflussbar sind. Nach Durchführung einer Aufklärungskampagne in Groß-britannien wurden 2000 Personen repräsentativ zu Depression befragt (Prä-post-Vergleich).…”

Lay Diagnoses and Views on Causes, Coping Strategies, and Treatment for Schizophrenia

“…The importance of enhancement of mental health literacy has been emphasized to overcome this situation (Jorm et al 1997). Mental health literacy includes the ability to recognize specific disorders or different types of psychological distress, skill of mental health information seeking, knowledge and beliefs about risk factors and causes, knowledge of types of self-help interventions, knowledge and beliefs about professional help available, as well as attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate help-seeking (Jorm et al 1997). Lauber et al clarified that people recommended therapeutic strategy, such as visiting a psychologist, visiting a psychiatrist, getting treatment in a psychiatric hospital, and receiving psychotherapy, and avoid dealing with the situation alone, when they recognized a condition as an illness rather than a life crisis (Lauber et al 2005(Lauber et al , 2001.…”

“…The importance of enhancement of mental health literacy has been emphasized to overcome this situation (Jorm et al 1997). Mental health literacy includes the ability to recognize specific disorders or different types of psychological distress, skill of mental health information seeking, knowledge and beliefs about risk factors and causes, knowledge of types of self-help interventions, knowledge and beliefs about professional help available, as well as attitudes that promote recognition and appropriate help-seeking (Jorm et al 1997).…”