TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - What adolescent girls know about mental health: findings from a mental health literacy survey from an urban slum setting in India
JO  - Indian journal of psychological medicine
A1  - Saraf, Gayatri
A1  - Chandra, Prabha S.
A1  - Desai, Geetha
A1  - Rao, Girish N.
SP  - 433
EP  - 439
VL  - 40
IS  - 5
N2  - BACKGROUND: Youth in vulnerable situations are known to have high rates of mental disorders but low help-seeking. Help-seeking is known to be influenced by mental health literacy (MHL), a key concept that is important for the recognition of mental disorders and planning intervention. AIMS: To explore MHL and help-seeking patterns in a group of young women in an urban slum setting in India. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 337 young women between 16 and 19 years of age belonging to urban slum settings formed the study sample. Two vignettes on depression and self-harm were used to assess: (a) recognition of the disorder, (b) help-seeking, and (c) knowledge of treatments available. <br><br>RESULTS: Only 8% of women were able to label the condition as depression in the first vignette. Though suicidality was identified correctly by the majority of participants 73 (63%), they did not think it needed urgent intervention. Only a few considered mental health professionals as possible sources of help (19.3% for depression and 2.4% for self-harm). Majority of the young women felt friends and parents were sources of help, and that stigma and lack of awareness were the reasons for not considering professional help. <br><br>CONCLUSION: MHL regarding depression and suicidality is low among young women from low-income areas. It is a critical and urgent need to encourage early and appropriate help-seeking for mental health problems in this vulnerable population.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0253-7176
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_108_18
ID  - ref1
ER  -