MENTAL-HEALTH LITERACY - A SURVEY OF THE PUBLICS ABILITY TO RECOGNIZEMENTAL-DISORDERS AND THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TREATMENT

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 s tructured interviews using vignettes of a person with either depressio n or schizophrenia. Participants: A representative national sample of 2031 individuals aged 18-74 years; 1010 participants were questioned a bout the depression vignette and 1021 about the schizophrenia vignette . Results: Most of the participants recognised the presence of some so rt of mental disorder: 72% for the depression vignette (correctly labe lled as depression by 39%) and 84% for the schizophrenia vignette (cor rectly labelled by 27%). When various people were rated as likely to b e helpful or harmful for the person described in the vignette for depr ession, general practitioners (83%) and counsellors (74%) were most of ten rated as helpful, with psychiatrists (51%) and psychologists (49%) less so. Corresponding data for the schizophrenia vignette were: coun sellors (81%), GPs (74%), psychiatrists (71%) and psychologists (62%). Many standard psychiatric treatments (antidepressants, antipsychotics , electroconvulsive therapy, admission to a psychiatric ward) were mor e 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). Vi tamins and special diets were more often rated as helpful than were an tidepressants and antipsychotics. Conclusion: If mental disorders are to be recognised early in the community and appropriate intervention s ought, the level of mental health literacy needs to be raised. Further , public understanding of psychiatric treatments can be considerably i mproved.