Secondary students ‘should learn about mental health’

Detailed information on mental health disorders should be included in the curriculum for secondary schools, according to the authors of a study, which found many teenagers were unable to spot signs of depression or suicidal behaviour among their peers.

Almost 200 post-primary level students in Carlow and Wexford participated in the study, which posited different hypothetical situations in which the central teenage character had experienced a difficulty and was displaying certain symptoms such as insomnia and weight loss.

The 187 respondents were then asked a series of questions, including their level of concern for the characters in the vignettes and how long they believed it would take for the people to recover.