Stigma toward mental illness among higher secondary school teachers in Puducherry, South India

According to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, in India about 150 million individuals above 18 years are suffering from a mental disorder that require active interventions.

In India, about 70 per cent of adolescents experiencing mental health symptoms endure them, with 50 per cent not completing high school. The data is cited from a report from the Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh.

A “vignette” can be a hypothetical story or situation inserted into a survey and is often used to elicit information about values, beliefs, and perceived societal norms from participants. The paper states that about 70 per cent of higher secondary school teachers showed agreement to “stigma toward a depressive case vignette.”

The participants in the survey were asked to rate how strongly they agreed to attitudes and beliefs (personal stigma) described in the vignette. As high as 73 per cent respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the case in the vignette is ‘weak’.

The paper recommends structured mental health education programs for teachers, emphasizing continuous learning and early intervention strategies to combat stigma and improve attitudes towards mental health in schools.

Focus and Factoids by Rhea Chalak.

PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.