1. Introduction
mental illness, anxiety, dementia, disability, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, depression, substance abuse
DISEASE, DISORDERS
Half to three-fourths of mental disorders appear during adolescence or young adulthood, and the treatment gap is mainly due to lack of knowledge, lack of perceived need, and the stigmatization of mental illness. The aims of this study were to implement and evaluate a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training program among undergraduates. Participants were second-year students from two universities in the French-speaking region of Switzerland (Epidemiological studies have revealed several important features of mental illness around the world. First, mental disorders, which span from youth through old age and include depression, anxiety, substance abuse, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dementia, are top contributors to the burden of disease worldwide [As elsewhere, the marked influence of mental disorders on societal health has also been documented in Switzerland. Evidence of this is that, among Swiss residents receiving disability compensation (IV-Rente), the proportion for whom mental illness was the stated cause of disability has increased dramatically, from 24.0% in 1995 to 48.0% in 2019 [Evidence of a treatment gap has also been identified in Switzerland, with an estimated 15 years between the age at which mental illness was initially experienced (median = 20–25 years old) and the age when the patient first registered for disability benefits (median = 40–45 years old) among those who received disability benefits due to mental illness from 1992 to 2006 [Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an educational training program that teaches individuals how to recognize the signs of a mental illness (including substance use problems) and provide immediate help and support. It was originally developed in Australia by Prof. Anthony Jorm and Betty Kitchener in the year 2000. They recognized the need for early intervention, and that the general public could provide the first early intervention prior to contact with health professionals. This “first aid” is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves [The MHFA program has been licensed and adapted in more than 25 countries worldwide. In June 2018, the MHFA was licensed to Switzerland via the Swiss association Pro Mente Sana, under the name “ensa”. To date, no study in Switzerland has examined the effectiveness of ensa, and few studies world-wide have examined its long-term effects or how they might be influenced by cultural differences [