World Mental Health Day 2021 : Mental Health In An Unequal World'

 

World Mental Health Day aims to raise awareness in the global community around mental health "with a unifying voice through collaboration with various partners".

That’s according to the World Federation for Mental Health, the organisation behind the day, which was celebrated for the first time in 1992.  World Mental Health Day was just observed as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health and had no specific theme.

However, in 1994, at the suggestion of then-Secretary General Eugene Brody, a theme for the day was used for the first time. The very first theme of the day was “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World.”

This year it takes place on Sundayy 10 October. A day designed to encourage raising awareness and spreading education about mental health issues across the globe.

The theme of this year's World Mental Health Day is 'Mental health in an unequal world'. and is about making mental health care a reality for all. This theme emphasizes the urgent need to close the huge gap in access to care for people with mental health problems and psychosocial disabilities around the world, and aims to raise awareness of the inequality in access to mental health care, both locally and globally, for marginalised people, particularly for people living in poverty.

The day will highlight that access to mental  health services remains unequal with between 75% to 95 % of people with mental  disorders in low and middle income countries unable to access mental health services at all and access in high income countries not much better. Lack of investment  in mental health disproportonate to the overall health budget contribute to the mental health treatment gap. Also according to UN 2016 data, “nearly 800,000 persons died every year by suicide, and 79 per cent of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries”

While the pandemic has affected everyone, people with long term health conditions, or facing discrimination or parenting on their own are struggling the most and need more support. The world has experienced  the unprecedented  impact  of  COVID-19 that has also impacted on the mental health of millions of people..

Over the past year we have all been in thee same storm but in different boats, experiencing  a wide range of thoughts and feelings. We know that the levels of anxiety, fear, isolation, social distancing and restrictions, uncertainty and emotional distress experienced have become widespread as the world has struggled to bring the virus under control and to find solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the effects of inequality on health outcomes and has brought additional mental health challenges through infection and illness, bereavement, job loss and insecurity, and social isolation due to physical distancing measures. There is no doubt that this will have negatively impacted on people's wellbeing and mental health. 

Mental health is a human right, and a rights-based approach to mental disability means domesticating treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Using the framework of this convention and others like it, it is possible to formulate an active plan of response to the multiple inequalities and discrimination that exist in relation to mental disability within our communities. While health care professionals arguably have a role to play as advocates for equality, non-discrimination, and justice, it is persons with mental disabilities themselves who have the right to exercise agency in their own lives and who, consequently, should be at the center of advocacy movements and the setting of the advocacy agenda..

Quality, accessible primary health care is the foundation for universal health coverage and is urgently required as the world grapples with the current health emergency. We therefore need to make mental health a reality for all – for everyone, everywhere.

Good mental health is not just about being free from a mental illness. It involves the ability to better handle everything life throws at you and fulfill one’s full potential. Mental illness is now recognised as one of the biggest causes of individual distress and misery in our societies and cities, comparable to poverty and unemployment. One in four adults in the UK today has been diagnosed with a mental illness, and four million people take antidepressants every year. This can have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people in the UK, and can affect their ability to sustain relationships, work, or just get through the day. What greater indictment of a system could there be.

While the uneven distribution of mental health resources both within and between countries springs to mind there are many other inequalities that I hope will be thought about on this day. These include inequalities driven by race, sexuality, gender identity, socio-economic status, access to technology and people living in challenged humanitarian settings such as displaced people, refugees, and those living in conflict/post-conflict situations are at greater risk of mental health difficulties..Due to ongoing political and social conflicts, the number of international refugees has been increasing. Refugees are exposed to severe mental challenges and potentially subject to traumatic experiences so the risk of psychiatric disorders is increased.  

Older people and immigrant groups are both thought to be more likely to experience social isolation and loneliness which can cause worse mental wellbeing.

Societal discrimination is likely to have an impact on mental health. Interventions that take into account the specific mental health risks that marginalised communities face, and are designed to meet the needs of these groups, are therefore needed.

There are also  significant mental health related inequalities for the UK Black community as people from Black African and Caribbean backgrounds are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act, and experience poorer treatment and recovery outcomes in comparison to other ethnic groups. The ON TRAC project aims to address this by developing a mental health awareness and stigma reduction intervention for Black faith communities.

Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and other factors is also widespread, and is known to cause or exacerbate mental health problems. Stigma in all parts of society must be eradicated.

I think raising awareness about conditions and treatments is crucial, but so is re-addressing the way we think about mental illness as not just an individual's problem but as something we must consider and address collectively in the way our society functions.  We feel  such huge pressures to feel we fit in somewhere, but actually it is so much more important to accept yourself whether you feel you fit in or not, after all you are the only person who will ever get to define who you are. 

Among the most menacing barriers to the social progress we need around mental health are the profound levels of guilt, shame and stigma that surround these issues. Mental illness scares us and shames us. Those who suffer are often, like me, ashamed to speak of it. Those who are lucky enough to be free of mental illness are terrified of it. When it comes to mental illness, we still don't quite get how it all works. Our treatments, while sometimes effective, often are not. And the symptoms, involving a fundamental breakdown of our perceived reality, are existentially terrifying. There is something almost random about physical illness, in how it comes upon us , a physical illness can strike anyone – and that is almost comforting. But  mental illness seems  to fall into that same category, the fact  it too could strike any of us, without warning should be equally recognised..

But more than simple fear, mental illness brings out a judgmental streak that would be unthinkably grotesque when applied to physical illness. Imagine telling someone with a broken leg to "snap out of it." Imagine that a death by cancer was accompanied by the same smug head shaking that so often greets death by suicide. Mental illness is so qualitatively different that we feel it permissible to be judgmental. We might even go so far as to blame the sufferer. Because of the  stigma involved  it often leaves us much sicker. Capitalist society also teaches us that we are each personally responsible for our own success.  A system of blame that somehow makes the emotional and psychological difficulties we encounter seem to be our own fault.  This belief is such a firm part of ruling class ideology that millions of people who would never openly articulate this idea, nonetheless accept it in subtle and overt ways.  People are often ashamed that they need medication, seeing this as revealing some constitutional weakness.  People feel guilty about needing therapy, thinking that they should be able to solve their problems on their own.  Millions of people fail to seek any treatment, because mental health care is seen as something that only the most dramatically unstable person would turn to. 

An ill-informed and damaging attitude among some people exists around mental health that can make it difficult for some to seek help. It is estimated that only about a quarter of people with a mental health problem in the UK receive ongoing treatment, leaving the majority of people grappling with mental health issues on their own, seeking help or information, and dependent on the informal support of family, friends or colleagues.Personally I have spent years of my life taking various antidepressants, anti anxiety medications whilst trying to deal with my own mental health (I am currently free from but the journey has not been an easy one. ) 

We need to break the silence around mental health.  These are issues that all of us should have some basic exposure to.  The proportion of the population that will experience an episode of acute emotional distress is extremely high.  Those of us who have never been depressed probably know and love several people who have.It  should be no more shameful to say that one is suffering from mental illness , than to announce that one is asthmatic or has breast cancer.  Talking about these issues is part of the solution. 

Breaking the silence can be liberating. Mental health care should be part of what we demand when we think about solutions to the economic crisis, and we should keep  fighting for the best mental health care to be the  natural right of all designed to meet human needs. Until then, engaging in the struggle toward a fairer more equal society can be a source of hope. That is a world surely worth fighting for.

World Mental Health Day is a great opportunity every year to bring together the common voice of people with psychosocial disabilities and those working in mental health around the world. I wanted to add my voice to the call for a better deal for people with psychosocial disabilities, and people living with the stresses of injustice and inequity that have such a negative effect on mental well being.

There are a number of things you can do to take part if you want to share your support of World Mental Health Day. The international symbol for mental health awareness is a green ribbon, and the easiest thing to do would be to wear one.These can be bought from mentalhealth.org.uk/green-ribbon-campaign, and you can also share it as a digital sticker through most social media platforms.There are also a number of resources available from Mind to help start questions about Mental Health inequality, we all have the power to  achieve change ad make a difference about how we talk about mental health, challenge the stigma and help start conversations. https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/wmhd-2021-resources/,

.If you are at all impacted remember that you are not alone, and there is no shame in reching out for support to get through it. If you need to talk to someone, the NHS mental health helpline page includes organisations you can call for help, such as Anxiety UK and Bipolar UK. or call The Samaritans on 116 123.Call your GP and ask for an emergency appointment.Call NHS 111 (England) or NHS Direct (Wales) for out-of-hours to help .Contact your mental health crisis team, if that is you have one. Remember it's ok not to be ok. Bekind to  yourself and others. Mental health matters but what people suffering truly need at the end of day is well-funded good quality services that actually respond to each individual's needs, and that can be accessed immediately, and in an equal world this would actually be happening. Sadly in Britain at the moment mental services are seriously inadequate and letting down manybadly, this is the harsh and bitter reality.