Does MHFA increase confidence in help provision?
- Does Disease-label Education Increase Confidence in Providing Help? The biggest barriers to help-seeking are fear of labels (32%), negative social judgments (22%), employment discrimination (21%) and stigma (9%). So, education on disease labels will actually REDUCE help-seeking. Another study by Morrison showed that countering the biogenetic model made it easier to provide help. I have started replicating that study with good results in the community. All the disease-label, chemical, genetic stuff makes this a lot more scary. We tell our trainees that everyone goes through hard times, and they already have the answers. We use the infographic below and say the four corners are peer support, dealing with trauma, building wellness stuff, and addressing social causes. All the nonprofits in town already know how to do that stuff. So this is an empowering rather than a disempowering message.
The MHFA message is, "This is a complex illness, you need to refer it to the experts," whereas our message is, "If you know something about trauma, you can help right now."
Much more empowering for the outcome of "increase confidence in help provision."
