こころの健康早期支援事業の実践から—中学生を対象とした統合失調症に関する授業の実施の意義

Early Intervention Project for Mental Health: Evaluation of education on schizophrenia for junior high school students

抄録

　中学生を対象に実施した「こころの健康早期支援事業」について報告する。①精神疾患に対する正しい知識の学習による誤解や偏見の防止，②生徒たちが精神疾患による不安や不調を生じた際に速やかに援助希求行動がとれること，を目標として「統合失調症」に重点をおいた授業を行った。実施校は3年間でのべ4校。精神保健・医療の専門家の協力のもと，教員自らが学習指導案を作成した。また授業の中で当事者が体験を語る時間を持った。実施前，教員には「疾患を正しく生徒に伝えられるか」という不安がみられたが，職員研修や当事者との出会いにより，授業に対する不安も軽減された。また生徒にとっても当事者の生の声を聞くことで偏見や差別について考える有用な機会となった。

　Aim：We conducted an early intervention project for mental health of junior high school students. The aims of this project were, 1)preventi ng stigma by educating students about “psychosis,” and 2)teaching students to seek psychological support when they are in mental distress.

　Method：We conducted classes about “psychosis” at 3 junior high schools. To begin with, a psychiatrist conducted a lecture for the teachers about psychosis. Then, the teachers created their own programs, and conducted classes for their students. As the teachers were creating their programs, we conducted conferences attended by the teachers, psychiatrists, and our staff to decrease teachers’ anxiety and to supply images for the program. These programs also included the testimonials of recovered patients.

　Results：At first, teachers’ worries included “can we correctly teach our students about psychosis?” But after the lectures and conferences, and meeting with recovered patients, teachers’ worries decreased. F or the students, recovered patients’ testimonials gave them an opportunity to consider the legitimacy of the stigma associated with “psychosis.”

　Conclusions：In this project, recovered patients’ testimonials had a remarkable effect on decreasing the stigma that students associated with psychosis. This program also had similar effects on the teachers.