There is growing evidence that mental health literacy has improved in western countries in recent years. The question arises as to whether this trend is paralleled by an improvement of attitudes towards people with mental illness.

To examine the development of mental health literacy and the desire for social distance towards people with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder in Eastern Germany over a time period of eight years.

A trend analysis was carried out using data from two population surveys conducted in the eastern part of Germany in 1993 and 2001. By means of a fully structured interview psychiatric labelling, causal beliefs, help-seeking and treatment recommendations as well as the desire for social distance was assessed.

While there was an increase in the mental health literacy of the public, the desire for social distance from people with major depression and schizophrenia remained unchanged or even increased.

The assumption underlying a number of anti-stigma campaigns, namely that educating people about mental disorders may automatically lead to the improvement of their attitudes towards the mentally ill, appears questionable.

Several population studies on beliefs about depression carried out in western countries during the 1990s have shown that the public clearly favors psychotherapy over antidepressant medication. The present study examines whether this phenomenon still exists at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century.

In 2009, a telephone survey was conducted among the population of Vienna aged 16 years and older (n = 1205). A fully structured interview was administered which began with the presentation of a vignette depicting a case of depression fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV for a moderate depressive episode.

Psychotherapists were most frequently endorsed as source of professional help. Antidepressant medication still was more frequently advised against than recommended. Respondents familiar with the treatment of depression tended to be more ready to recommend to seek help from mental health professionals and to endorse various treatment options, particularly medication.

At the end of the first decade of this century, there still exists a large gap between the public's beliefs and what mental health professionals consider appropriate for the treatment of depression. Therefore, further effort to improve the public's mental health literacy seems necessary.