**7. Perspectives on how family members, friends, and community members can identify signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression**

Family members, friends, and community members might encounter numerous barriers to identifying signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety if they have limited knowledge of the mental illness. In addition to people's misattributions, there are other factors to consider, such as financial issues, inadequate resources, etc.

Studies looking into the stigma associated with mental illness and its treatment in Arab culture found several ways in which various commonly held negative views might limit access to mental health care. Concerns over medicine use and unfavorable attitudes toward persons with mental illnesses and mental health practitioners were among the issues raised [21].

Individuals with mental illness are more likely to express shame or humiliation and the themes "weak," "social rejection," "difficulty talking to specialists," and "confidential/anonymous services." The former might reflect the reality that shame is present in many diseases. At the same time, the latter could imply that need is overriding worries, care is altering attitudes, or individuals who are stigmatized are better able to receive assistance. These findings are consistent with individual research on how sociodemographic factors combine with stigma to limit help-seeking behavior [22]. Students who experience stressful life events of a more severe nature and burnout are ultimately affected negatively academically [23, 24].

The lack of knowledge about depression and anxiety results in ineffective social support necessary because people lack the understanding of the magnitude of depression and anxiety. The adoption of the STAR-Caregivers program, a behavioral intervention to reduce depression and anxiety in individuals with mental illness and their family caregivers, can be beneficial if rolled out on a large scale to educate families, friends, and community members [25]. This program can be adapted to fit the need of rural communities with the sole purpose of educating people about depression, anxiety, and mental illnesses.

Recently, institutions of higher learning have parents' sessions, especially at the beginning of the year, and research found that attendance of parent education sessions was linked to a decrease in depression symptoms over time. The findings emphasize the relevance of social–emotional support and depression prevention programs, emphasizing family and community protective factors [26].

The research found that students with characteristics that set them apart from most of their peers, such as minority race or ethnicity, international status, or low socioeconomic status, are more likely to be socially isolated. Furthermore, as measured by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the students with lower-quality social support were six times more likely to experience mental health problems than students with higher-quality social support, including a sixfold risk of depressive symptoms [13]. Therefore, it is imperative to have programs covering the ground regarding knowledge, which set a stage to offer effective, insightful support from family and community members. Mental illness is typically perceived as a curse or retribution, and religion has been demonstrated to substantially impact views [21].

Another mechanism recognized is social media's support and impact on mental health outcomes, which forms a massive part of students' lives [27]. In order to minimize mental health symptoms, the positive advantage can be access to services through social networks in addition to parent, friends, and community behavioral interventions.
