Mental health concerns of Canadian adolescents: a consumer's perspective.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the mental health of adolescent students in Metropolitan Toronto. METHOD: A survey was developed by adolescents for adolescents to evaluate adolescent mental health. The survey was completed by 486 secondary school students in Metropolitan Toronto. RESULTS: The findings of this consumer-directed survey show that the majority of teenagers are not overwhelmed by stress and generally exhibit healthy coping behaviours. Violence is identified as an important concern and help-seeking behaviour for mental health issues, when it occurs, is directed primarily towards the family and teachers rather than physicians. CONCLUSION: A number of important issues regarding mental illness, including its identification and treatment, were not considered by teens to be part of their mental health concerns. The implications of these findings for the development of community-based mental health programs for adolescents are discussed.