Mental Health Literacy among University Students

Chittaranjan Subudhi¹, P Srinivasan^2, and Bhanumati Mohapatra³

¹Department of Social Work, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India

²Department of Education, Central University of Tamil Nadu, India

³Department of Social Work, Central Institute of Hotel Management and Catering, Bhubaneswar, India

Cite this paper:
Chittaranjan Subudhi, P Srinivasan and Bhanumati Mohapatra. Mental Health Literacy among University Students. American Journal of Educational Research. 2018; 6(4):365-369. doi: 10.12691/education-6-4-11

Abstract

Background: Increasing cases of mental disorders is an alarming situation in the developing countries like India. It needs a careful and serious intervention on the part of government as well as professional psychiatric social worker. The proposed study aims to measure the mental health literacy among the university students. Methods: The survey was conducted among the students of one of the Central Universities of India i.e. Central University of Tamil Nadu Thiruvarur India. The study was based on the random sampling with a sample size of 40. Vignette of a person with depression were given as an example followed by questions. Data were analyzed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Results: Only 32.5% respondents were clearly identified the vignette as a case of depression and most of the respondents (47.5%) were classified the vignette as mental/psychological problem. Marital separation or divorce is most depression contributing factors has been found from the study. Current survey also revealed that non-pharmacological treatment is more beneficial than pharmacological treatment of mental disorder. Conclusion: Result suggested that, there is an immediate action required to improve the knowledge about mental health among the university students. The results have important implications for identification, prevention of mental health problems and improve mental health literacy among the students. Orientation on mental health is required to improve their basic knowledge on this issue.

Keywords:
mental health literacy depression mental health knowledge perceptions

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