Mental health literacy: what do Nigerian adolescents know about depression?

Abstract

BackgroundDepression is a leading cause of disability and has been projected to become the 2nd most burdensome disease by the year 2020; depression has also been found to be the strongest single risk factor for attempted or completed suicides. Adolescent-onset mood disorders are frequently unrecognized or misdiagnosed and often go untreated. While there is a growing literature on the mental health literacy of adults, there has not been a parallel interest in the mental health literacy of young people in Nigeria.MethodsThe study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey conducted among students of a Federal Government College (high school) in south-east Nigeria. All consenting students in the senior secondary classes (grades 10–12) were recruited, making a total of 285 participants. The participants were presented with the ‘friend in need’ questionnaire designed to elicit the participants’ recognition of the disorder depicted in two vignettes and their recommendation about the appropriate source of help-seeking. One vignette was of a clinically depressed case while the other vignette was about a girl undergoing normal life crisis.ResultsOut of the 285 students recruited into the study, 277 questionnaires were adequately completed indicating a response rate of 97.2%. A total of 4.8% (n = 13) participants correctly identified and labelled the depression vignette. Only four respondents (1.5%) recommended professional help from a Psychiatrist or Psychologist. Insomnia was the most identified symptom of distress for depression (17.1%). Females demonstrated higher mental health literacy, in terms of their ability to correctly label the depression vignettes, their expression of greater concern over a depressed peer than males, their expectation that depression requires a longer recovery than normal teenage problems and in their ability to identify individual symptoms of depression. Family and friends were the most recommended source of help.ConclusionMental health literacy was abysmally low amongst the adolescents surveyed. There’s an urgent need to increase mental health awareness in Nigeria.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13033-018-0186-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mental health literacy among Nigerian teachers

“…This is consistent with findings from a similar study carried out among teachers in India (Mendonsa & Shihabuddeen, ). This also shows that teachers surveyed did not differ significantly from the general Nigerian populace including students in terms of poor knowledge of depression (Adeosun Ibukun, ; Aluh, Anyachebelu, Anosike, & Anizoba, ; Andrew, Igboanusi, Joshua, & Yakubu, ; Dogra et al, ). Corresponding with a study by Rothì, Leavey, and Best (), there was no association between experience and ability to correctly identify depression.…”

Moderating Role of Health Literacy on the Association between Alexithymia and Depressive Symptoms in Middle School Students

“…Many published studies have found that alexithymia has an adverse effect on adolescents' mental health [35,36]. At the same time, low levels of health literacy also increase adolescents' risk of physical and psychical problems [37][38][39]. It may be that adolescents with low levels of health literacy are not recognizing signs of negative emotion and cannot seek timely mental health services, resulting in deterioration of mental health, in line with Beck's cognitive theory, which indicates that an individual's negative automatic thoughts may affect emotional, physical, and motivational symptoms of depression [40].…”

Help-seeking behavior of Jimma university students with common mental disorders: A cross-sectional study

“…The situation is more severe in Africa, as proved by a study among Nigerian students where very few students (1.5%) considered seeking help from a professional (e.g. psychiatrist or psychologist) as a recommended course of action for depression [37]. These students most commonly preferred friends and families as sources of help [37].…”

“…psychiatrist or psychologist) as a recommended course of action for depression [37]. These students most commonly preferred friends and families as sources of help [37]. Despite the adverse consequences of CMDs, most students do not seek help or prefer informal sources of help than formal sources [38–41].…”