[A mental health education program: the school project "Crazy? So What!" initiated by "Irrsinnig Menschlich (Madly Human) e.V. Leipzig"].

The school project "Crazy? So What!" aims to educate young people about mental disorders and to raise their tolerance of the mentally sick. Personal encounters between the students and the mental ill is a major aspect of the scheme. To date, 820 students from 27 schools in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt have participated in the program. The evaluation of the project within the framework of a case-control study revealed that negative stereotypes and the reserve shown towards the mentally handicapped actually can be reduced. The long-term goal is to integrate mental health/illness into the school curriculum.