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Introduction

Royal College of Psychiatrists

With the increasing emphasis on mental health promotion through the National Service Framework (NSF) for Mental Health, the publication of a series of articles on self-help resources and information is both topical and relevant.

The Department of Health recently (2001) issued a report, Making It Happen, that provides a range of information to support those people working locally to promote mental health, with a specific focus on delivering Standard One of the NSF. This report reminds us that Jorm et al (1997) found a clear gulf between public and professional beliefs about mental health problems but argues that an improvement in mental health literacy will be an important contributor to the success of prevention, early intervention, self-help and support for people with mental health problems in the community (Jorm et al, 2000).

Historically the emergence of many self-help organisations was a welcome response to what many people saw as ‘medical paternalism’ and lack of information and support for patients and their families.

When the College first published the ‘Depression’ Help is at Hand leaflet more than 10 years ago, there was a paucity of mental health promotion materials (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/info/help/dep/ ). The existing materials at the time were antimedical and antipsychiatry in tone. Now, there is a proliferation of self-help organisations for almost every physical, neurological and mental disorder. Virtually all the organisations in the mental health field have produced training and self-help materials for service users, carers and professionals, all of variable quality and promoting sometimes contradictory messages. So for the ordinary person in the street, finding reliable information can be very difficult.

With the development of electronic media it has become increasingly confusing for patients and their carers to know which sites are relevant or provide accurate and helpful information — is some form of regulation on the cards?

We hope that you will find this series of articles on self-help resources helpful.

References

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2001) Making It Happen. A Guide to Delivering Mental Health Promotion. London: Department of Health.

JORM, A. F. (2000) Mental health literacy: public knowledge and beliefs and mental disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 396-401.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

JORM, A. F., KORTEN, A. E., JACOMB, P. A., et al (1997) Helpfulness of interventions for mental disorders: beliefs of health professionals compared with the general public. British Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 233-237.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hart, D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hart, D.