Informatics Publishing Limited

S. Kaushik ¹, Shagun Narang ¹, Shivangi Khattar ¹, Arushi Chatterjee ¹, Ambikesh Sharma ¹, Akhilesh Nair ¹, Akash Saxena ¹

Affiliations
1 You're Wonderful Project, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

The present study was aimed at assessing the perception of common people on mental illnesses. For the purpose of the study a mixed method design was used. A questionnaire was developed consisting of objective as well as subjective questions. It was built on three factors related to the attitude towards mental illness, namely, authoritarianism, benevolence, and social restrictiveness, which were based on two standardized scales namely CAMI (Cohen, 2010) and OMI (Cohen & Struening, 1962). The data was collected from 422 participants from all over India. Cronbach's alphas were calculated to assess the internal consistency of the dimensions. Further, independent samples t-test was conducted to assess the significance of gender differences across the dimensions and content analysis was conducted to analyse the subjective questions. The results indicated that males had significantly higher authoritarian attitudes towards the mentally ill than females. However, for the other two dimensions no gender differences were discovered. The content analysis of qualitative data revealed that the picture is not entirely bleak as there exists some familiarity with and awareness about mental health and the contingent issues, but there is still immense scope in increasing the sensitisation towards mental health awareness. Hence, this domain demands more research.

Keywords

Perception, Mental Illness, Authoritarianism, Benevolence, Social Restrictiveness and Sensitisation.

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Sanya Dhawan ¹, S. Kaushik ¹, Arushi Chatterjee ¹, Shivangi Khattar ¹, Akhilesh Nair ¹, Akash Saxena ¹, Ambikesh Sharma ¹

Affiliations
1 You're Wonderful Project, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

The present study was aimed at initiating a conversation about the importance of mental health among school children. This project has been founded with the aim to equip 6th-8th graders with the knowledge of common mental health issues through the process of: a) creating awareness, b) encouraging acceptance, c) ensuring prevention and d) assisting with cure. For this study , a qualitative design was used. A questionnaire was developed that aimed at identifying the gaps between the current SPEAK module (the module curated by the Y ou're Wonderful Project; to deliver workshops around mental health awareness amongst the school students) and the needs of the school children. The data was collected from 106 participants. The participants were recruited as volunteers for the SPEAK program who would deliver workshops in different schools across Delhi-NCR,they came from different backgrounds like Psychology, English, History, among others, and were adults between the ages of 18-45. The qualitative data collected from the participants was analysed using content analysis. Effort was made to extract the major issues faced by the school children as listed by the participants. The results indicated that the major themes identified as per the school workshops by the volunteers delivering the workshops were bullying, issues related to exam, anxiety related to academic issues, and issues related to family . In addition, more information on how to better conduct the workshop and engage with the students, was also noted during this process. This study is a pilot study that will further help to understand how to ensure the effectiveness of the SPEAK program, as well as conduct more enhanced workshops around mental health awareness among school students.

Keywords

School, Mental Health, Children, Adolescents, Sensitization, Mental Disorder.

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