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The purpose of this paper is to produce a comprehensive and tabulated review of the many and scattered papers on public mental health literacy, with particular focus on people's ability to recognise mental illness and beliefs about the treatment.

This was a review and tabula study. Comprehensive tables describe studies: the first looks at the beliefs of three different groups (the general public, students and young people) within developed English-speaking countries, and the second on studies from non-English-speaking countries.

Some illnesses like depression and schizophrenia are well researched and others like anxiety or personality disorders largely ignored. The conclusion considers terminological (the loose use of different terms), theoretical (little or no theoretical models) and methodological (heavy reliance on printed, culture-bound vignettes) issues in the developing area of research.

No such review exists and this therefore should be of considerable value to people working in the area.