In Bangladesh, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare takes advantage of the high penetration of mobile phones to orchestrate mass SMS messaging campaigns.
Periodically, text message ‘‘blasts’’ containing illness awareness and health information (i.e. National Immunization Day, National Breastfeeding Week) is
sent to practically all mobile phone owners in the country (WHO,2011).
One could easily imagine how similar unidirectional mass communication resources could be used to improve public understanding of mental health symptoms, conditions, and treatment.
In fact, some developed countries are starting to focus their efforts on improvement of mental health literacy as a means of early prevention and intervention (Australian Department of
Health and Ageing, 2009).
Mental health literacy campaigns could pair the ability of text message ‘‘blasts’’ with educational awareness messages about mental illness conditions (i.e. symptoms
of depression, anxiety, or PTSD) and provide ways for
individuals to connect with additional resources for those
conditions (i.e. hotline phone numbers, local treatment centers, online websites or phone application download links).