MENTAL HEALTH FOR ALL

     

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   “What Mental Health needs is more sunlight, more candor and more unshamed conversation”. -Glenn Close.

    Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.

    Mental health is important because it's a vital part of our life and impacts our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. Being healthy emotionally can promote productivity and effectiveness in activities like work, school or care giving. 

Mental health is one of the most neglected areas of public health. Close to 1 billion people are living with a mental disorder, 3 million people die every year from the harmful use of alcohol and one person dies every 40 seconds by suicide. And now, billions of people around the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is having a further impact on people’s mental health. 

    Mental health has been hidden behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for too long. It is time to bring it out into the open. The magnitude, suffering and burden in terms of disability and costs for individuals, families and societies are staggering. In the last few years, the world has become more aware of this enormous burden and the potential for mental health gains. We can make a difference using existing knowledge ready to be applied. We need to enhance our investment in mental health substantially and we need to do it now.

    Every year WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY is observed on October 10. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, only forty percent of adults and fifty percent of youth receive the medical help they need. Even though mental illness is common and can affect anyone, there is still a great stigma attached. This stigma creates reluctance and shame in seeking help. The acceptance and understanding of mental illnesses has come a far way from where it used to be, but improvements can, and should still be made.

    Mental illnesses should not be thought of any differently from physical illnesses. In fact, I believe the two are inseparable. Because the whole body is connected and interwoven, the two cannot be separated. The brain is an organ just like everything else in the body and can be hurt like everything else. When the brain is ill, it is not isolated in just the brain, but instead affects the whole body and the overall wellness. Substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide are very common and dangerous in those with mental illnesses. Nurturing our mental health can also help us combat or prevent the mental health problems that are sometimes associated with a chronic physical illness.

    Mental illness should not be something to be ashamed about or thought of differently. When mental illness is treated equally to other illnesses, more people will have the courage to get help and better their lives.

MENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS:

    Mental health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people. They include depression, anxiety and conduct disorder, and are often a direct response to what is happening in their lives.

    Alarmingly, however, 70% of children and young people who experience a mental health problem have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.

    The emotional wellbeing of children is just as important as their physical health. Good mental health allows children and young people to develop the resilience to cope with whatever life throws at them and grow into well-rounded, healthy adults.

Things that can help keep children and young people mentally well include:

• Being in good physical health, eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise.
• Having time and the freedom to play, indoors and outdoors.
• Being part of a family that gets along well most of the time.
• Going to a school that looks after the well being of all its pupils.
• Taking part in local activities for young people.
  

Other factors are also important, including:

• Feeling loved, trusted, understood, valued and safe.
• Being interested in life and having opportunities to enjoy themselves.
• Being hopeful and optimistic. 
• Being able to learn and having opportunities to succeed.
• Accepting who they are and recognizing what they are good at
• Having a sense of belonging in their family, school and community.
• Feeling they have some control over their own life. 
• Having the strength to cope when something is wrong and the ability to solve problems.

 MENTAL HEALTH FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS:

    Mental health is related to the personality as a whole of that person. Thus, the most important function of school and education is to safeguard the mental health of boys and girls. Physical fitness is not the only measure of good health alone. Rather it’s just a means of promoting mental as well as moral health of the child. The two main factors that affect the most are feeling of inferiority and insecurity. Thus, it affects the child the most. So, they lose self-initiative and confidence. This should be avoided and children should be constantly encouraged to believe in themselves.

MENTAL HEALTH FOR WOMEN:

    In the past decade, the roles of men and women have changed drastically in the society. India is no exception. Today, we can easily find a woman running a house, handling chores, managing kids and still being able to ace her job. But the matter of concern is not the various unconventional fields where women are seen more often, the problem is the number!

    Women face issues such as improper crèches where they cannot reliably keep their children, unskilled domestic help, lack of proper transportation to commute within the city, irregular working hours leading to inability to develop a work-life balance, less remuneration compared to men in the industry, and above all the lack of safety.

    Most often, women go for a sabbatical during or post-pregnancy or due to stress or marriage. When she decides to return to work, she may find difficulty in finding a job since many workplaces have the notion that a sabbatical may have compromised her efficiency and might have incapacitated her productivity.

    Sometimes, the expectations from her family members or in-laws to look after the household and kids coax her to priorities her marriage and family over her dreams. Thus, women choose to leave their jobs and become homemakers.

MENTAL HEALTH FOR EMPLOYEES:

    For many of us is a major part of our lives. It is where we spend much of our time, where we get our income and often where we make our friends. Having a fulfilling job can be good for your mental health and general wellbeing.

    Work is good for mental health but a negative working environment can lead to physical and mental health problems. Harassment and bullying at work are commonly reported problems, and can have a substantial adverse impact on mental health.

    Good mental health at work and good management go hand in hand and there is strong evidence that workplaces with high levels of mental wellbeing are more productive.

MENTAL HEALTH FOR OLD AGE PEOPLE:

    More than 20% of people aged 55 or older may have some type of mental health problem. Biological changes may interfere with the brain's functioning, social changes can lead to isolation or worthlessness and somatic diseases are often important contributory factors too. Mental disorders may exacerbate the symptoms and functional disabilities associated with medical illnesses and increase the use of healthcare resources, length of hospital stay and overall cost of care.

    Mental health problems can have a high impact on an older person's ability to carry out basic daily living activities, reducing their independency, autonomy and quality of life.

    As we age, we face many changes and many sources of stress – we are not as strong as we used to be, illness is more of a problem, children move away from home, people we love die, we may become lonely, and eventually we must give up our jobs and retire. Coping with all these changes is difficult, but it can be done. The keys to coping include your long-term lifestyle, your ability to expect and plan for change, the strength of your relationships with surviving family and friends, and your willingness to stay interested in and involved with life.

    The promotion of healthy ageing in all its aspects is an important role for all societies. Early recognition, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders that are common in old age are important to prevent suffering and disabilities. Care for older adults with mental illnesses requires sensitivity and observational and relational skills in order to help the older person achieve and maintain the highest possible level of functioning and wellbeing. Those who care for older people should always be protected and supported in their tasks everywhere. All these interventions can be efficiently realised in primary care.

    All these actions together can certainly contribute to better mental health in old age.

 “Mental health is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you are going.”

-Noam Shpancer

This Article bagged first place in essay writing competition Organized by the Dept. of Psychology, Kateel Ashok Pai Memorial College, Shivamogga  on the occasion of World Mental Health Day 2020.

Prabha M.N.

Biology Lecturer at  Sri Aurobindo PU(I)  College, 

Javalli. Shivamogga

Pursuing PGDPCG, MEFFMH, Shivamogga