Abstract
Poor knowledge about mental health is one of the main barriers for seeking treatment in our country, especially among rural areas. It also contributes significantly toward stigma and discrimination that persons with mental disorders face. Early recognition and intervention for persons with mental health problems have positive outcomes. Mental health literacy is being seen as one of the key indicators in predicting successful outcomes in persons with mental disorders. People with mental illness are subjected to discrimination and are treated with contempt due to the deep-rooted stigma present in the rural society. Due to this, there is a need to understand the local and cultural contexts of stigma to develop effective and innovative methods to change such attitude. With newer research, today, various new techniques have been implemented to increase the mental health literacy among the rural societies in India. This chapter will look into the diverse methods of increasing mental health literacy among the rural population in India.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Almanzar S, Shah N, Vithalani S et al (2014) Knowledge of and attitudes toward clinical depression among health providers in Gujarat, India. Ann Glob Health 80(2):89–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2014.04.001
Armstrong G, Kermode M, Raja S et al (2011) A mental health training program for community health workers in India: impact on knowledge and attitudes. Int J Ment Heal Syst 5(1):17
Atilola O (2015) Level of community mental health literacy in sub-Saharan Africa: current studies are limited in number, scope, spread, and cognizance of cultural nuances. Nord J Psychiatry 69(2):93–101
De Anstiss H, Ziaian T (2010) Mental health help-seeking and refugee adolescents: qualitative findings from a mixed-methods investigation. Aust Psychol 45(1):29–37
Fernando SM, Deane FP, McLeod HJ (2010) Sri Lankan doctors’ and medical undergraduates’ attitudes towards mental illness. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 45(7):733–739
Fuller J, Edwards J, Procter N, Moss J (2000) How definition of mental health problems can influence help seeking in rural and remote communities. Aust J Rural Health 8(3):148–153. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1584.2000.00303.x
GlobeNewswire (2018) For immediate release: the importance of mental health literacy among all of the awareness. Available via: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/01/30/1314605/0/en/Forimmediaterelease-The-importance-of-mental-health-literacy-among-all-of-the-awareness.html. Last accessed 22 July 2019
Gururaj G, Varghese M et al (2016) National Mental Health Survey of India, 2015–16: prevalence, patterns and outcomes. NIMHANS Publication No. 129. National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru
Hill SK, Cantrell P, Edwards J, Dalton W (2016) Factors influencing mental health screening and treatment among women in a rural south central Appalachian primary care clinic. J Rural Health 32(1):82–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12134
Huang D, Yang LH, Pescosolido BA (2019) Understanding the public’s profile of mental health literacy in China: a nationwide study. BMC Psychiatry 19(1):20
John S, Muralidhar R, Raman KJ, Gangadhar BN (2015) Addressing stigma and discrimination towards mental illness: a community-based intervention programme from India. J Psychosoc Rehabil Ment Health 2(1):79–85
Kanowski LG et al (2009) A mental health first aid training program for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: description and initial evaluation. Int J Ment Heal Syst 3(1):10
Kapanee ARM, Meena KS, Nattala P, Manjunatha N, Sudhir PM (2018) Perceptions of accredited social health activists on depression: a qualitative study from Karnataka, India. Indian J Psychol Med 40(1):11. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_114_17
Kelly CM, Mithen JM, Fischer JA et al (2011) Youth mental health first aid: a description of the program and an initial evaluation. Int J Ment Heal Syst 5(1):4
Kermode M, Bowen K, Arole S, Pathare S, Jorm AF (2009) Attitudes to people with mental disorders: a mental health literacy survey in a rural area of Maharashtra, India. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 44(12):1087–1096. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0031-7
Kumar R (2013) Attitude to people with mental illness: a mental health literacy survey from Punjab State. Int J Health Sci Res 3:135–145
Kutcher S, Wei Y, Coniglio C (2016) Mental health literacy. Can J Psychiatry 61:154–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743715616609
Lakdawala B, Vankar GK (2016) Mental health literacy amongst college students: a community based study. Indian J Ment Health 3(3):342
Lam AY et al (2010) Mental health first aid training for the Chinese community in Melbourne, Australia: effects on knowledge about and attitudes toward people with mental illness. Int J Ment Heal Syst 4(1):18
Loganathan S, Varghese M (2015) Play it street smart: a street play on creating awareness about mental illness. World Cult Psychiatry Res Rev 10:189–200
Loo PW, Wong S, Furnham A (2012) Mental health literacy: a cross-cultural study from Britain, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Asia Pac Psychiatry 4(2):113–125
Maulik PK, Kallakuri S, Devarapalli S et al (2017) Increasing use of mental health services in remote areas using mobile technology: a pre–post evaluation of the SMART Mental Health project in rural India. J Glob Health 7(1). https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.07.010408
Minas H et al (2009) Evaluation of mental health first Aid training with members of the Vietnamese community in Melbourne, Australia. Int J Ment Heal Syst 3(1):19
Ogorchukwu JM, Sekaran VC, Sreekumaran Nair LA (2016) Mental health literacy among late adolescents in South India: what they know and what attitudes drive them. Indian J Psychol Med 38(3):234. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.183092
Poreddi V, Birudu R, Thimmaiah R, Math SB (2015) Mental health literacy among caregivers of persons with mental illness: a descriptive survey. J Neurosci Rural Pract 6(3):355. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-3147.154571
Pradeep BS, Gururaj G, Varghese M, Benegal V, Rao GN, Sukumar GM (2018) National Mental Health Survey of India, 2016 – rationale, design and methods. PLoS One 13(10):e0205096. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205096
Rosen A (2006) Destigmatizing day-to-day practices: what developed countries can learn from developing countries. World Psychiatry 5(1):21
Salve H, Goswami K, Sagar R et al (2013) Perception and attitude towards mental illness in an urban community in South Delhi–A community based study. Indian J Psychol Med 35(2):154. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.116244
Sharma B, Malik M (2013) Bollywood madness and shock therapy: a qualitative and comparative analysis of depiction of electroconvulsive therapy in Indian cinema and Hollywood. Int J Cult Ment Health 6(2):130–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/17542863.2012.669769
Subedi P, Li C, Gurung A et al (2015) Mental health first aid training for the Bhutanese refugee community in the United States. Int J Ment Heal Syst 9(1):20
Suhail K (2005) A study investigating mental health literacy in Pakistan. J Ment Health 14(2): 167–181
Sullivan G, Cheney A, Olson M et al (2017) Rural African Americans’ perspectives on mental health: comparing focus groups and deliberative democracy forums. J Health Care Poor Underserved 28(1):548–565. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2017.0039
Venkataraman S, Patil R, Balasundaram S (2019) Stigma toward mental illness among higher secondary school teachers in Puducherry, South India. J Family Med Primary Care 8(4):1401. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_203_19
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Murthy, M.K.S., Dasgupta, M., Chaturvedi, S.K. (2020). Mental Health Literacy in Rural India. In: Chaturvedi, S. (eds) Mental Health and Illness in the Rural World. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2345-3_34
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2345-3_34
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-2343-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-2345-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences