Mental Health Literacy Among College Students in Dhaka: A Survey-Based Study

In today’s society, mental health has gained significant attention, highlighting the valueof fostering awareness and understanding of this crucial aspect of well-being, which is frequentlyoverlooked. Mental health encompasses a diverse display of emotional, psychological, and socialfactors critical in shaping how individuals think, feel, and behave in their everyday lives. Aprofound awareness of mental health is crucial for personal well-being and fostering a morecompassionate and supportive community. Negative attitudes toward mental illness andtreatment often arise from a lack of accurate mental health knowledge. This study aimed toassess the mental health knowledge and awareness among college students in Dhaka city andidentify the socio-demographic factors influencing them. We conducted a cross-sectional studyfrom November 2024 to January 2025, involving 384 college students in Dhaka. Three distinctquestionnaires were collected from Md. Abu Bakar Siddique’s (Md. Abu Bakar et al., 2022) [1]research to evaluate knowledge, awareness, and beliefs regarding mental health. The cut-offvalue was set at 80% of the total scores from both the knowledge and awareness scales,categorizing participants into higher and lower groups. Data were analyzed using Google Sheets.The primary outcome variables were the levels of mental health knowledge and awareness. Wefound that about 30% of the students had high knowledge, and more than half (60.16%) of thestudents had a high awareness of mental health issues. Research indicates that female students,students enrolled in private colleges, and individuals with a background in science demonstrate asignificantly higher level of knowledge regarding mental health. Despite high mental healthawareness among college students, their knowledge of mental health issues remains inadequate.Therefore, it is essential to identify the gaps in knowledge and awareness of mental healthdisorders and to explore how these gaps can be addressed.