Mental Health Awareness Among Young Adults in A Metro City in Kerala

India is a country with about 30% of its population constituted by youth. Their perceptions and attitude towards mental health and associated issues will determine the extent of identification, help seeking and treatment compliance. This study attempts to understand the current levels of mental health awareness in young adults. A survey was conducted among 708 students of which 326 were male students and 382 were female students belonging to both arts and engineering courses from various colleges in a metro city in Kerala drawn using purposive sampling. The tool used was a check list of yes/no response developed by the authors after extensive search and reading of relevant survey tools. Results showed that 38% believed mental illness is a taboo. 27.5% believed that medications will cause side effects and 21.6% thought medications should be taken life-long. Males were more likely to use alcohol (p<0.001), tobacco (p<0.001) and narcotics (p<0.001) when under stress. Male students attempted or seriously contemplated suicide than female students (p=0.001) and more number of males sought psychological help (p=0.001). Females viewed mental health issues as a sign of personal weakness (p=0.03) and they were more likely to feel inferior if they had a mental health issue (p<0.001). Significantly more males perceived individuals with a mental health condition as dangerous (p=0.002). In contrast, women were more willing to be friends with individuals who have previously been treated for the same (p=0.003). Women were more willing to seek psychological help if they thought they had a mental health issue (p<0.001). Significantly more men believed that a person with mental health problem cannot be successful (p=0.043). Stigma and misconceptions regarding mental health are prevalent among young adults which needs to be addressed with awareness programmes that will sufficiently address these perceptions.