Mental illnesses are generally recognized late by those affected and those who live with them. Other times, they are underestimated, waiting for a natural resolution.

A very high percentage of people experiencing mental distress go untreated for a long time. Some never receive treatment, worsening their prognosis over time.

Consecrated or priestly life is not exempt from the risk of developing some form of distress: due to stress factors, hormonal factors, the consequences of primary physical pathologies, and so on.

The course provides knowledge of the main psychological and psychiatric disorders so that participants, within their roles (educator, spiritual director, superior, and so on), can discern human situations that also require specialist assistance (e.g., psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist), for timely assistance to those in difficulty (both in the context of vocational discernment and in the more general context of their mission, which puts them in contact with a vast network of people who turn to them).