Background: Mental Health and physical health are interrelated, interdependent and around 15 million people suffer from one or other serious psychiatric illness which require active mental health services. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of parents with regard to different aspects of mental illness.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive, comparative design was used. 20 fathers and 20 mothers who were attending outpatient department along with their mentally sick children were chosen for the study through convenient sampling technique. A structured interview schedule was administered to assess the knowledge and attitude of parents towards mental illness.

Results: The study results showed that 51.4% of fathers and 55% of mothers had moderate knowledge, 63.8% to 58.3% of fathers and mothers had favorable attitude towards mental illness.

Conclusion: Health care personal has to create awareness programme on mental health importance and involvement of family members in caring the mentally ill persons.