MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION

Counselling in community settings

1. COUNSELLING IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS

2. MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION

3. GOALS Mental health education is intended to serve two broad though related purposes:   1)to educate the public and its leaders about the nature of mental disorders and methods of treatment,to convey the magnitude of the problem and to mobilize action toward improving the care and treatment of the mentally disturbed . The plea is for interest and compassion rather than stigmatization and rejection.  

4. 2)to improve the mental health of the community by encouraging preventive activities.Professional associations,citizen’s groups and governmental agencies engage in educational activities towards these ends. Mental health education is one of the essential functions expected of community mental health centers under federal support.The effort to inform and change public attitudes is an important theme of community psychology.  

5. THE PRACTICE OF MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION Practice in this realm can be considered in terms of three components:technique,target group and content(National Assembly on Mental Health Education ,1960;Adelson and Lurie,1972)

6. TECHNIQUE A major thrust in mental health education in recent years is the greater utilization of group processes for developing understanding of mental health issues . From the work on group dynamics and the related efforts in the “dynamics of planned change” ( e.g.,Lippit , Watson,and Wesley,1958;Bennis and Shepard,1961)in the Lewinian tradition, there is increasing recognition of potential of problem solving and attitude change in the mental health realm as well as other aspects of social life ( Adelsonand Lurie, 1972).

7. Where people participate themselves in the educational process,rather than being “educated at,”change is likely to be quicker and more permanent . Hence , a major effort of mental health educators involves group discussions in which the educator is more a resource person than a lecturer . In this regard, it can be noted that consultation,though considered as a separate topic , can be conceived in much the same framework and is actually a major technique for providing mental health education.

8. The mass media ,however ,remain the primary route for reaching the public at large .Television ,Newspapers, and magazines carry reports on mental health programs and developments . Problems of neurosis and psychotherapy have become familiar on many TV dramatic programs,as have concerns with drug abuse,health programs are pictured, such as crisis clinics,suicide prevention, and community mental health centers . All of this reduces the strangeness and fearsomeness of the work of mental health.

9. Lectures to organized groups (whether to the Lions Club or an eighth- gradeclass ) , demonstrations,and films are important ways of communicating mental health information . Movies have been produced for many special audiences and are often shown along with discussions led by a professional . Mental health associations and professional groups have speakers bureaus which provide speakers on request.

10. CONTENT What is taught relates both to the technique used and to the needs of the target group ,as well as the goals of mental health educator . Thus ,if the purpose is to strengthen support for mental health facilities in the community ,and the audience is composed of community leaders,then presentations may include mental health statistics ,cost benefit accounting, or limitations of present rediscussion .

11. With a parent’s group ,the focus is more likely to be on matters of child development and their import for later mental health. In order to be effective , an educator must not only have a broad knowledge of psychopathology ,development ,intervention methods ,social problems ,and understanding of the organization and facilities of mental health,but also have the knowledge and skills of communication and group processes .

12. TARGET GROUP In any community there are numerous potential target groups . Adelson and Lurie (1972)suggest three major groups who should be given the highest priorities in mental health education.   1) Those Vulnerable to Emotional Disorder . This includes children and their families ,groups going through any developmental crisis ,such as starting in a new school career, or those facing special stresses,such as illness or loss of a job,and those under long-term stress ,such as inadequate housing,chronic unemployment ,and the like . In these cases , the primary purpose of education is to help these groups to deal with their problems.

13. 2)Those Holding Power in the Community . Whether local ,state wide, or national those belonging to the power structure are important targets since the face of the mental health enterprise , whether a local community clinic or a national research program and depends on their understanding and goodwill. For other reasons ,however , the powerless and deprived are also of concern for increased understanding on their part can lead to their taking a more vital part in the development of services best suited to their needs.

14. 3)Those with Care –taking Functions . Teachers ,ministers and physicians and the police need mental health information because they are involved,in more or less direct ways, with the problems of vulnerable people.

15. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION Reviewing the experimental literature on mental health education.J.A.Davis (1965)concludes that no simple overall conclusion as to its effectiveness can be reached . Many of the published studies concern student groups , though some evaluate programs addressed to adult audiences.

16. In many cases ,positive effects were found in experiments involving exposure to written material, lectures or group discussion,but in others no effects or negative findings emerged, which led Davis to the conclusion that successful and unsuccessful programs could not readly be distinguished. What does seem true , however, is that effectiveness of the educational effort varies with the particular facet of behavior which the experimenter attempts to.

17. Little is known about the effects on personal and subjective feelings of happiness, effectiveness and the like . “A key assumption of existing mental health education programs that mass exposure to books , pamphlets,movies , and so on,has a positive effect on subjective states has not been studied”(J.A.Davis,1965,p.137 ).

18. The educator in the field of cancer control , for example,can deliver the simple message that smoking can be detrimental to your health,but mental health educators have few such straightforward messages to deliver . Inadequate mothering can lead to psychological disturbance in the child,but this can hardly be translated into a directive for action of sort “if your child is to be psychologically sound,be an adequate mother !” Thus far ,mental health education can better serve attitude change toward the goal of improving the understanding and care of the mentally ill than it can be used for altering the feelings and actions of the recipient so as to assure his or his family’s better mental health.

19. Because of the lack of more complete and more specific working principles, the joint commission of mental illness and Health took the conservative position: “We should avoid the risk of false promise in ‘education for better mental health’ and focus on the more modest goals of disseminating such information about mental illness as the public needs and wants in order to recognize psychological forms of illness and to arrive at an informed opinion of its responsibility toward the mentally ill”(1961,p.277).

20. Informed public opinion is an important goal in itself.People are understandably curious to learn what is known about human psychology and psychologists are obliged to share their knowledge . Regardless of whether such a knowledge may or maynot lead to greater peace of mind,it is important that it will be available as a basis for informed opinion on public questions

21. More over ,as J.A.Davis (1965)notes ,making psychological knowledge available serves three additional purposes: (1)having information reassures.The Nunnally studies showed how unsure people were in matters pertaining to mental health , and how eager they were for authoritative and factual material .Getting information,even if incomplete reduced their fears

22. (2)information provides standards for evaluating oneself.We often judge our own situation in relation to what we believe of others to be.To the extent that we lack correct information,we can misjudge (3)information can inoculate against the shock of oncoming stress ,as we noted in our earlier discussion of anticipatory crisis intervention.The unexpected and unknown is more threatening than the known,even when there are few specific things that can be done to avert it.

23. CONCLUSION Community mental health education can help to reduce stigma surrounding mental health conditions and promote a positive mental health environment . Change in the perception of mental health often starts with individuals; moves to families, the workplace, and schools; and ends with community leaders who are then equipped to maintain formal and informal community education efforts surrounding mental health.