Introduction

As future educators, social workers, and youth-serving professionals, you will not be expected to diagnose mental health disorders. However, you will often be among the first adults or peers to notice when a young person is struggling. The Lupine Initiative is guided by the concept of mental health literacy, originally developed by Dr. Anthony (Stan) Kutcher and colleagues.

Mental health literacy provides a shared framework for

  • Understanding mental health and mental illness

  • Reducing stigma

  • Recognizing early warning signs

  • Supporting appropriate help-seeking

Our role is not clinical assessment. Our role is awareness, responsiveness, and referral within scope. Mental health literacy equips non-clinicians to confidently engage in conversations that may significantly impact a young person’s trajectory.

Purpose

We want you to feel confident when having conversations with young people in your life about mental health.

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    Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E., Jacomb, P. A., Christensen, H., Rodgers, B., & Pollitt, P. (1997). “Mental health literacy”: A survey of the public’s ability to recognize mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment. Medical Journal of Australia, 166(4), 182–186.

    ‍Kutcher, S., Wei, Y., & Coniglio, C. (2016). Mental health literacy: Past, present, and future. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(3), 154–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743715616609

    ‍Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697.

    ‍The Trevor Project. (2023). 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People.