Children and Teens Need to Better Understand Mental Illness

An online study by Harris Interactive reveals that fewer young people understand mental illnesses than physical ones. This lack of understanding seems to lead to social stigmas. The study of over 1300 youth included questions about a fictional child, Michael, who has depression.

"More youth indicate that Michael...would be made fun of...Fewer youth say that students at their schools would invite Michael...to parties or outings."

Though students seemed more likely to shun "Michael" if he suffered from depression as opposed to ADHD, they were overall more likely to shun him due to a mental illness than a physical one.