Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives on Mental Health Disorders-A Preliminary Study Prabhu Vidya1, Ashok Lena2,*, Kamath Veena G.3, Kamath Asha4, Chandrasekaran Varalakshmi1 1Lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, Melaka Manipal Medical College 2Associate Professor, Coordinator MSW, Prasanna School of Public health 3Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College 4Head of Department of Data Science, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India *Corresponding Auther: Dr. Lena Ashok, Associate Professor, Coordinator MSW, Prasanna School of Public health, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India, Emai. Id: lena.ashok@manipal.edu
Online published on 13 November, 2019. Abstract Background Unfavorable attitude towards mental health disorders are prevalent in the general population. Since teachers are considered as key resources in the promotion of adolescent's mental health, assessing their attitudes and beliefs are crucial. Materials and Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Udupi Taluk. A semi structured questionnaire was used to assess their perceptions of regarding mental health disorders. A total of 93 high school teachers were included in the preliminary study. Results Out of 93 respondents, 45(48.4%) were in the age group 30–39 years and 38 (40.9%) of the respondents had 5–9 years’ teaching experience. About (58.1%) of the respondents indicated that mental health problems were not a real medical illness and 80.6% of the respondents stated that mental health disorders were signs of personal weaknesses. About 53.8% cited that people with mental health problems were not dangerous to others and 55.9% of them reported that it is easier to give advice to someone else to seek help than for themselves in relation to mental health. Conclusion Preliminary findings indicated that teachers were willing to participate in the study. There is a need to provide interventions to teachers to develop a positive attitude towards mental illnesses, which is very much essential in the promotion of mental health of the adolescents Top Keywords Attitude, teachers, mental health problems. Top |