Expert outlines the importance of mental health literacy, and suggests how we can pursue it
Mental health literacy refers to an individual's knowledge and beliefs about mental health disorders that helped in their recognition, management, or prevention. Photo Courtesy: iStock
The conversation around mental health has been gaining traction over the past decade, however, there is still immense stigma in the absence of awareness levels required to properly acknowledge, and overcome this issue. According to the estimates of World Health Organization in 2019, 1 in every 8 people or 970 million people in the world live with a mental health disorder. These 2019 estimates also suggest that over 550 million people suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders even though effective prevention and treatment options exist.