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Essay On What Does It Mean To Be Literate In Understanding Of Mental Health

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What does it mean to be literate in the understanding of mental health? According to the Author mental health literacy is described as “knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention” (Jorm, 2000). Based on that definition the author believes society as a whole has failed in the areas of recognition and prevention of mental illness because even though we live in an age of constantly evolving, life lengthening healthcare a vast majority of the general public cannot distinguish psychological disorders from one another if at all. This same group of people do a commendable job of developing their physical health literacy but ignore the equally important topic of their mental health. This gross negligence by the general …show more content…

While non-western countries focus on cultural reasoning behind illness in the forms of witchcraft and demonic possession that can only be treated by traditional healers (Razali, 1996). These differences in beliefs translate directly into how medical professionals and mental health professionals are viewed and how they should treat each respective party. It is also necessary to note just how complex the author sees the treatment methods from the general public’s point of view because again based on your culture and environment society has a certain view of treatment methods. The most often discussed treatment is the use of psychotropic medicine. The general public has a negative stigma of this treatment method because society lacks so significantly in its mental health literacy that when they see the word “drug” for possible treatment the worst is assumed then generalized so all drugs are bad without any education on the matter in regards to mental health (Angermeyer,

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