In the past, poor mental health and mental illness were often categorized as moral failings, punishment by God, or even demonic possession. Things have improved, but there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding mental illness. Barriers to affordable treatment are just one consequence. Many people who need help never receive it. According to the WHO, suicide remains the leading cause of death for 15-29 year olds. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so to learn more about mental health and wellness, here are ten courses you can audit for free. If you want a verified certificate, you’ll need to pay a course fee.
Table of Contents
#1. The Science of Well-Being (Yale University)
#2. Psychological First Aid (Johns Hopkins University)
#3. Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 (University of Toronto)
#4. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (University of Toronto)
#5. Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health (University of Sydney)
#6. Young People and Their Mental Health (University of Groningen/University of Cambridge)
#7. Able-Minded: Mental Health and People With Intellectual Disability (UQx)
#8. Talk to Me: Improving Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Young Adults (CurtinX)
#9. Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach (John Hopkins University)
#10. PTSD in the Global Context (University of Glasgow)
#1. The Science of Well-Being (Yale University)
What does “happiness” look like? How can we live happier, more productive lives? In this course led by Professor Laurie Santos, you’ll learn about happiness misconceptions, how to overcome biases, how to improve happiness, and how to “rewire” your brain.
What you will learn (excerpt)
- Measure your baseline happiness using methods like the PERMA Profiler and Authentic Happiness Inventory
- Understand why we have misconceptions about happiness and why we think certain things make us happy when they don’t
- Explore how to overcome “annoying features” of the mind and overcome biases
- Identify the importance of environment on behavior and happiness
How you will learn
The course takes 19 hours spread over 10 weeks. You’ll learn through a blend of videos, readings, weekly “rewirement” challenges, peer-graded assignments, and quizzes. You can pay for a certificate, but you’ll still have access to all course materials if you take the free audit option. Deadlines are flexible. Subtitles are available in a handful of languages, including Arabic, French, Russian, German, Vietnamese, and English.
#2. Psychological First Aid (Johns Hopkins University)
When someone experiences a psychological emergency, they need help from others around them. This course teaches you how to respond effectively and compassionately. What you learn can be applied to a variety of environments and scenarios, including after community violence, a violent accident, a robbery, and so on. With the skills you learn, you can help others and learn how to protect your own mental health during an emergency.
What you will learn (excerpt)
- Define psychological first aid and the RAPID model, which stands for reflective listening, assessment of needs, prioritization, intervention, and disposition
- Understand the difference between reasonable and harmless psychological/behavioral crisis reactions and serious, potentially harmful behaviors
- Participate in simulations that demonstrate the different RAPID phases
- Identify the symptoms of burnout, compassion fatigue, and psychological trauma
- Develop stress management techniques and good self-care routines
How you’ll learn
“Psychological First Aid” is six hours spread over five weeks. You’ll learn using videos, simulations, discussion prompts, readings, and graded quizzes, which are each worth 25% of your grade. If you’re auditing, you won’t have access to graded assignments. Subtitles are available in a variety of languages, including Arabic, French, German, Greek, Vietnamese, and English.
#3. Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 (University of Toronto)
Designed for helping people manage their mental health during COVID-19, this course provides essential knowledge and skill-building. You’ll learn why your anxiety response works the way it does, the effects of isolation, how to manage anxiety, and more.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Understand the nervous system (which controls the anxiety response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (which is the relaxation side).
- Learn how to manage your anxiety by managing your environment, your stimuli, and what activities you engage in
- Identify how watching the news triggers anxiety and how to manage how much you consume
- Explore the effects of isolation and how to manage them
How you’ll learn
This beginner course is just three hours taken over four weeks. You’ll learn using videos, readings, and practice exercises. Subtitles are available in Arabic, Spanish, English, German, Italian, Vietnamese, and more. Deadlines are flexible.
#4. The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (University of Toronto)
Taught by Charmaine Williams, who is a social worker and Associate Professor, this course examines how social factors affect mental health. You’ll learn how social attitudes and developments in North America and around the world inform what we understand about mental health and illness. Situating mental health and illness in a social and historical context helps you understand the complexities.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Explore the history of “madness” and how society has viewed mental illness
- Define mental health and the social determinants of mental health
- Understand diagnosis, the DSM, and the social contexts of treatment options and access
- Examine the connections between culture, mental health, and mental illness
- Learn about family and community as they relate to mental health and illness
How you will learn
The course takes about 14 hours stretched over six weeks. You’ll learn using video lectures, readings, and quizzes. All course materials are available for the free audit option. Subtitles are available in languages like French, Vietnamese, English, Spanish, and Arabic.
#5. Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health (University of Sydney)
“Positive psychiatry” is a new term from 2016 that describes a dual approach to mental health: building strength and support and also treating illness. This course examines what good mental health looks like, as well as the causes and treatments for major mental disorders. You’ll hear from both Australian experts and people with lived experiences. Strategies like creativity, medications, and yoga are approached with an evidence-based lens.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Learn about positive mental health, stress, and recovery using insights as ancient as Aristotle to as recent as modern happiness research
- Explore the connections between the body and mind, as well as how exercise works as an evidence-based mental health treatment
- Explore attachment theory, social connections, and love and work
- Identify the main categories of mental illness, their symptoms, causes, and treatments
- Examine different paths to recovery, including creativity, music therapy, art therapy, and more
How you will learn
The course takes 20 hours spread over five weeks. You’ll learn using videos, readings, and quizzes, which you have access to even on the free audit track. Subtitles are available in languages like Arabic, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, and English. Deadlines are flexible.
#6. Young People and Their Mental Health (University of Groningen/University of Cambridge)
1 in 5 teenagers deals with mental health problems. This course, which is designed for young people over 14 years old, explores what mental health is, what causes mental health issues, and what to do when faced with a mental health issue. Students will learn how to identify the symptoms of problems like anxiety and depression while also considering factors like genetics and environment.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Define mental health and common mental health problems
- Explore the causes of mental health problems and symptoms of issues like depression, anxiety, addiction, and so on
- Examine how to manage psychological struggles and how to strengthen your mental resilience
How you will learn
The course takes about 5 weeks to complete with 2 hours of work per week. You’ll learn through videos, readings, discussions, and quizzes. The audit option lets you participate in the course’s comment section, but your access expires in about a month.
#7. Able-Minded: Mental Health and People With Intellectual Disability (UQx)
Through this course, you’ll learn about disorders like depression and anxiety, how the assessment and screening process works for children, how to identify challenging behavior, and what treatment guidelines look like. Anyone can benefit from the course, but it’s designed for people working in the advanced medical, allied health, and disability fields. This is the third course in a series on Intellectual Disability Healthcare, but you aren’t required to have taken the other courses.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Identify various mental health disorders and symptoms in people with intellectual disabilities
- Explore the legal and ethical challenges with patients who may need substituted consent
- Learn about assessment and screening
- Examine treatment guidelines, management, treatment, and H.E.L.P.
How you’ll learn
The course takes 5 weeks with 1-2 hours of study per week. You’ll learn through videos, quizzes, and discussions. With the audit option, you only get about a month of access to the course materials.
#8. Talk to Me: Improving Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Young Adults (CurtinX)
This German-Australian collaboration focuses on the suicide crisis facing young people. You’ll learn what mental health is, the impact of stress, and the contributing factors to poor mental health and suicide. You’ll also learn why self-harm is such a common coping mechanism, as well as how to talk to a person that might be at risk of suicide. Whether you’re a student, parent, teacher, or health professional, you’ll develop ways to help young people talk about their mental health.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Identify what mental health is and how stress impacts it
- Recognize the major signs of suicidal ideation and poor mental health
- Explore the best questions to ask people who could be at risk for suicide
- Examine strategies that help improve mental health and build resilience
How you will learn
With 2-3 hours of study per week, you can complete the course in six weeks. Course materials include videos, questionnaires, module quizzes, readings, and more. You’ll get time-limited access to the course when you choose the free audit option.
#9. Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach (John Hopkins University)
A beginner-level course, “Major Depression” takes a public health approach to depression. That means it looks at depression through the lens of epidemiology, transcultural psychiatry, health services research, and prevention. After completing the course, you’ll have a much deeper understanding of how a public health approach applies to mental disorders.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Identify major depression and how experts measure its effect on populations
- Examine maternal depression from a global health perspective
- Explore the major epidemiologic research designs, including the case-control design and the cohort design
- Discuss a public health view of depression treatment, barriers to treatment, and recent
How you will learn
The course takes about 11 hours to complete over six weeks. You’ll learn through video lectures, readings, quizzes, and a final assignment. The free audit option gives you access to everything except graded assignments. Subtitles are available in languages like Arabic, French, Chinese (simplified), English, and Spanish.
#10. PTSD in the Global Context (University of Glasgow)
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is on the rise. On a global level, forced displacement is one major reason. In this course, you’ll learn about PTSD, its symptoms, and how it manifests in a global context. Culture will be considered, as well as various treatment options like psychological therapy and other evidence-based strategies.
What you’ll learn (excerpt)
- Define trauma, PTSD, and their prevalence around the world
- Explore the barriers to diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from PTSD
- Understand the connection between psychology, biology, and culture to PTSD
- Describe and assess the evidence-based strategies for preventing and treating PTSD
How you will learn
With a 4-hour per week commitment, you can complete this course in 4 weeks. You’ll learn through videos, readings, quizzes, and discussions. With the audit option, you’ll get time-limited access to the course.
