Abstract
Mental health literacy is defined as knowledge and beliefs useful to recognize, manage and prevent mental disorders. It includes not only knowledge about mental disorders but also attitudes to promote proper consultation. The purpose of this study was to clarify the current state and issues of mental health literacy in medical college students. We distributed the questionnaire to approximately 160 4th-year students. The survey content included (1) mental health (The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index: WHO-5), (2) knowledge about depression (the name of disease was asked after presenting depression cases), and (3) coping behavior when they themselves or someone else became depressed. 130 (81.3%) students gave valid responses. Regarding mental health (WHO-5), 28.5% of students were unhealthy. Regarding knowledge about depression, 48.5% of students gave the correct disease name. The rate of correct answers on the disease name was higher for unhealthy students than for healthy students (p=0.049). Two of the coping behaviors, "consultation with a mental health specialist" and "consultation with a family doctor," were selected more often when someone else became depressed instead of themselves. On the other hand, "to deal with it by myself" was selected more often when they themselves became depressed. It was suggested that reducing the resistance to consult with specialists is an issue for improving mental health literacy in medical college students.
