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Abstract
The aim of the study was to carry out a survey of Japanese high school students in order to assess recognition and beliefs about treatments for mental disorders. In 2011, 311 Japanese high school students aged 15–19 years filled out an anonymous self-report questionnaire containing a case vignette describing depression, schizophrenia or social phobia. Subsequent questions covered: what was wrong with the person, help-seeking intentions and the likely helpfulness of treatments. Only 14.3% of students correctly labelled depression. Rates of recognition for schizophrenia (or psychosis) and social phobia were 8.3% (or 23.1%) and 26.8% respectively. Friends were nominated as the most likely source of help. The most commonly nominated barrier to help seeking was concern about what other people might think. Views about the helpfulness of treatments generally diverged from those of health professionals. Between 36.8% and 52.6% of students thought dealing with the problem alone would be helpful. Japanese high school students show low levels of mental health literacy relating to depression, social phobia and schizophrenia. Interventions to improve mental health literacy should be targeted towards young people and their parents and should address signs and symptoms of disorders, evidence-based treatments and barriers to help-seeking, particularly concern about what others might think.
Notes on contributors
Dr Kumiko Yoshioka is a Clinical Psychologist and lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Fukuoka. Her research interests are in the area of mental health literacy and mental health education, promotion, and interventions.
Dr Nicola J. Reavley is a Senior Research Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on improving public knowledge and beliefs about mental health problems and on interventions that aim to improve support for those with mental disorders.
Dr Laura M. Hart is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. Her work focuses on early intervention and prevention of mental illness, youth mental health and research translation.
Prof Tony Jorm is a Professorial Fellow in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne and an NHMRC Australia Fellow. His research focuses on public knowledge and beliefs about mental illnesses, and particularly on interventions to improve the public's helpfulness towards people developing mental illnesses. Prof Jorm has been listed in ISI HighlyCited.com as one of the most cited researchers in Psychology/Psychiatry for the past 20 years.