About this thing we call mental health literacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12707/RVI24.19.34548Keywords:
mental health literacy, mental health, health promotion, disease preventionAbstract
Background: Mental health literacy is a key concept in the field of mental health promotion and prevention. However, an expansion of the concept has been proposed that may distort its scope.
Objective: To critically explore the concept of mental health literacy and its evolution, starting from its origin and subsequent developments, and considering its potential and challenges.
Main topics under analysis: Mental health literacy; positive mental health; mental health prevention and mental health promotion as principles anchoring the origin and development of the concept.
Conclusion: The promotion of mental health as part of the concept of mental health literacy is a positive step as it provides a perspective based on salutogenesis. The addition of the adjective positive to the original term serves the ideological commitments and agendas of some fields of knowledge more than the actual promotion of mental health. Furthermore, mental health literacy interventions aim to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and people with mental health conditions and increase help seeking.
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