Reducing stigma and improving access to mental health care for youth

Disha Mehta, BSc, Kristy Williams, BSc, Alex Butskiy, BSc, Taylor Swanson, BSc, Maryam Dosani, BSc

BC youth have been estimated to have a relatively high—15%—prevalence of mental health disorders.[1] Even more alarmingly, disease onset occurred before 18 years of age in 70% of Canadian adults living with mental illness.[2] Youth are among the most susceptible groups for mental health problems, yet are poorly equipped to recognize disorders and most likely to seek help from each other.[3]

The authors formed the Healthy Young Minds Project in October 2009. The project’s mission is to “establish a sustainable framework for engaging youth in the discussion of mental health with the aims of reducing stigma and facilitating access to mental health care” through the creation and delivery of workshops in Vancouver high schools.

The project ran focus groups with teens at a Vancouver high school to find out what youth know about mental health and illness. “We don’t know how they feel,” was one of many frustrated answers to the question, “What is mental health and what does it mean to have a mental illness?”

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