Young Australians' Knowledge of Mental Illness
Increasing the mental health literacy of young people and the people close to them may help them gain the benefits of early treatment, according to research results published in the current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Annemarie Wright, Coordinator of the Compass Strategy at the ORYGEN Research Centre, University of Melbourne, and colleagues say the limitations they identified in youth mental health literacy are possibly contributing to the low rates of treatment and the long duration of untreated illness reported in other studies.
The authors say adolescence and young adulthood are peak times for the onset of depression and psychotic disorders, and that early detection and treatment have been shown to improve long-term outcomes and reduce the risk of future episodes of illness.
They say barriers to seeking help early include accessibility and availability of services and limited knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders, which aid their recognition, management or prevention.
Their study, conducted in Victoria, set out to assess young people's ability to recognise clinically defined depression and psychosis, the types of help they thought appropriate for these problems, their knowledge of appropriate treatments, and their perceptions regarding prognosis.
Just over 1,200 young people aged 12-25 years were randomly selected to participate in the mental health literacy telephone survey.
The study examined:
- Young people's ability to recognise clinically defined depression and psychosis
- The types of help they thought appropriate for these problems
- Their knowledge of appropriate treatments for these disorders
- Their perceived outcomes for these disorders, and
- Whether young people's responses differed between age groups.
"Almost half the respondents were able to identify depression correctly, whereas only a quarter identified psychosis correctly," say the authors.
"Counsellors and family or friends were the most commonly cited forms of best help, with family or friends preferred by the younger age group for depression.
"General practitioners were considered more helpful for depression, and psychiatrists and psychologists more helpful for psychosis.
"Most respondents considered counselling and psychotherapy to be helpful. However, more than half expressed negative or equivocal views regarding the helpfulness of recommended pharmacological treatments.
"Identifying gaps in mental health literacy may help to improve community education and the responsiveness of the health care system, ensuring that young people get appropriate help for these disorders in a timely manner," they say.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
CONTACT Annemarie WRIGHT 0419 009 789
Judith TOKLEY, AMA Public Affairs, 0408 824 306 / 02 6270 5471