Perception of community people towards mental illness in selected ward of Tarkeshwor municipality.

Thesis Report.

SUMMARY: This study entitled" Perception of community people towards mental illness in selected ward of Tarkeshwor Municipality" was conducted in ward no. 3 of Tarkeshwor Municipality, Kathmandu. The general objective of this study was to assess the perception of community people regarding mental illness. The study was based on probability sampling method under descriptive study. All together 215 respondents were administered with structured questionnaire. The study variable included both dependent and independent variable. The dependent variable included variables like, knowledge on mental illness and its causes, perception towards mentally ill people, perception towards care, treatment and management of mentally ill people. Similarly independent variable included contacts of a person with mentally ill people. The collected data from this study was entered and analyzed in SPSS. Mental illness is defined by WHO as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.(1) Similarly Mayo Clinic defines mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions disorder that affects person's mood, thinking and h=behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. (2) In context of Nepal most of the people misunderstand mental illness as being mad o losing control over the self. People belief mental illness is because of the HOLY spirit, black magic, god's punishment etc. Individual themselves and family members are the target of stigma and discrimination which is why they ignore victim and do not seek proper treatment.(3) Most of the respondents in this study belonged to the 20-29 years of age (27.4%). This study displayed that all the participants had heard about mental illness and among them 47.7% of the respondents agree mental illness is common illness and majority 88.4% highly agreed anyone can suffer from it during period of life.