The Big Read in short: The need for greater mental health literacy among youths

Youths and mental health experts say that there is a need to beef up literacy on mental health through educating employers, parents and children from an early age.

The youths and mental health experts say that there is a need to beef up literacy on the subject through educating employers, parents and children from an early age “I've never met a single person who was like, weirded out by it. Everyone, even if they didn't understand what the condition was or they weren't sure, nobody was negative,” the 28-year-old said.

Mental health advocates and young interviewees diagnosed with mental health conditions, whom TODAY spoke to, agreed that the rise in mental health awareness had led to terms associated with therapy-speak such as “triggered”, “boundaries” and “gaslighting” becoming increasingly common within the social lexicon.

There is also the concern that youths might be too quick to diagnose themselves with mental illnesses based on symptoms found online, even though these may not be accurate. “And through that process, also provide some proper education and hopefully improve the person's mental health literacy and knowledge as well,” she added.There is also the concern that youths might be too quick to diagnose themselves with mental illnesses based on symptoms found online, even though these may not be accurate.

“To me, kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Maybe they don't have the faculties to explain exactly what they're feeling, but I think they are pretty intuitive. If you make things the norm for them, that's what they learn to pick up,” said the 27-year-old. At the core of mental health literacy is the understanding of mental health conditions, and by extension, the ability to distinguish between a temporary mental setback from certain circumstances and a protracted mental health challenge that might need clinical support.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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