Mental health literacy in adolescents – potentialities, challenges and the role of hospital-based mental health services

Abstract

Evidence suggests that mental health literacy levels are low regardless of the population studied. It is known that adolescence is a critical phase of transition and adaptation to reality, becoming a time prone to the emergence of possible situations of psychological suffering, which can evolve into mental disorders. In the case of adolescents, the impact of insufficient mental health literacy is worrying given the significant prevalence of mental health problems and the potentially serious consequences of a delay in seeking help or the use of inappropriate strategies or resources. Mental health literacy programs for adolescents, studied mainly in schools, seem to have positive results in the levels of mental health literacy in this age group, but there are several limitations in terms of evaluation and intervention that make a valid comparison between programs unfeasible. On the other hand, spaces for debate aimed at young people and hospital-based mental health services, although little reported in the literature regarding mental health literacy programs, can play an important role in the promotion of mental health literacy, as illustrated by the experience of a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service in the north of Portugal.