Mental Health Literacy in Secondary Schools

Men’s depression and suicide literacy: a nationally representative Canadian survey

“…Fundamental to suicide prevention efforts is public awareness, which in turn, is influenced by literacy levels about men's depression and suicide. Indeed, knowledge about mental health literacy is central to understanding and addressing the needs of individuals and communities (Kutcher et al, 2015). For example, low levels of mental health literacy are linked to reduced knowledge about depression and suicide and reduced likelihood to engage services and/or treatment[s] (Gabriel & Violato, 2010).…”

Why is depression more prevalent in women?

“…New antistigma and educational programs targeted to youth may help reduce depression in this age group. 13 Why then is depression more prevalent among women? The triggers for depression appear to differ, with women more often presenting with internalizing symptoms and men presenting with externalizing symptoms.…”

Inventing Mental Health First Aid: The Problem of Psychocentrism

“…Reproducing the deterministic conclusion that the first onset of mental illness typically occurs in childhood or adolescence -as though there cannot be any other cause of adolescent distress -MHFA echoes the central messages of other mental health literacy campaigns targeting children, adolescents, youth, young adults, and their caregivers, parents, and educators (Kutcher, Bagnell, & Wei, 2015;McIssac, Read, Veugelers, & Kirk, 2013;The Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2010;Whitley, Smith, & Vaillancourt, 2013). Mental health literacy campaigns, such as The Jack Project, MindWise campaign, MindMatters, and the School-Based Pathways to Care (Wei, Kutcher, & Szumilas, 2011), consume, produce, and disseminate deterministic advisements regarding the inevitability of youth mental disorder: "Adolescence is the peak age of onset for mental illness, with half of all people who will ever have a mental illness experiencing their first episode prior to 18 years of age" (Kelly et al, 2011, p. 2).…”