Evaluating Thailand’s mental health education policy

Rising adolescent mental illness rates have been given special attention after the pandemic, but many gaps still remain as the rates continue to rise despite government interventions. There has been little evaluation of the current school-based mental health (SBMH) system in Thailand including a universal definition of SBMH. Stigma remains a strong barrier to Thai adolescents seeking mental health services, and promising research suggests raising mental health literacy (MHL) rates can reduce this stigma. Through a literature review with international examples and a policy analysis, this research seeks to understand to what extent Thai policy addresses school-based mental health and what gaps exist in the policy. There seems to be a lack of interventions dedicated to raising in MHL rates with SBMH policy primarily focusing on developing social responsibility in adolescents. Ensuring policy outlines a direct path to improving mental health literacy could help to create a more holistic response to increasing adolescent mental illness rates that effectively targets social stigma. This research is expected to aid in identifying policy gaps that are either not effective or negatively affect students. By bringing attention to the increasing issue of adolescent mental health and how mental health education (MHE) could improve the situation, it is expected that more focus will be put on ensuring schools are adequately equipped to educate students on mental health and provide resources for them.