This
year the charity Mind revealed that only
1.36% of local public health budgets are spent on preventing people from
developing mental health problems. This is shocking in light of the fact that 1
in 4 people will suffer from a mental illness and that simple facilities and
activities could make a huge difference to those people. There is a vast range of mental
illnesses from schizophrenia to depression and many people in the country are
affected by them; yet we choose to taboo the subject and avoid addressing the
issue. When we learn that obesity is on the rise, instantly gyms and support groups
are funded by the government however when we
discover that a fifth of adults of the UK have taken anti-depressants at some point in their lives, there is no rush to provide activities such as therapy sessions or
meditation classes for the public.
Furthermore,
surely it would be even simpler to initiate the means to prevent the problem in
the first place? Students receive countless lessons about healthy eating and
fitness, yet there is hardly anything on the curriculum highlighting the importance of looking after
your mental health as well as your physical health even though 1 in 10 students
will be affected by mental illness at some point during their education. This
statistic could be drastically decreased if children and teenagers were
encouraged to adopt habits and strategies that enable them to feel in control
of their mind and secure in themselves, the closest that we have to this
at the moment is simply "how to avoid exam stress" crash courses near the end of the academic year which are usually held too late and not taken seriously.
Sadly mental
illness is too often not taken as seriously as physical illness even though it
can sometimes be much more fatal. For men over 40 years old, suicide is the
biggest killer but we still prioritise facilities for physical health problems
much more so than mental health problems. A stigma in daily conversation has
developed and we are so fearful of this issue which means that we never
confront it. When it takes some people
18 months to reserve a hospital bed for their eating disorder and others are
forced to persist through exams or work commitments when they are suffering with personal mental
problems due to fear that if they focus on their mental health it will be a
massive obstacle to a successful career- it should ring alarm bells that we
need to make a change and push the leaders of our country to put money, time
and effort into the necessities to support the large fraction of us who are
burdened with one of these illnesses.
Mind has fortunately taken a stand and have been actively trying to
make a change by encouraging people to send letters to their MPs and
overwhelming figures in authority with the
Mind manifesto which consists of the following six main commitments for whoever forms the
next government after the General Election next year:
1.
Reduce mental health stigma and discrimination and
continue to support the Time to Change campaign
2.
Mandate the NHS in England to offer
talking therapies to everyone who needs them within 28 days of referral
3.
Ensure
everyone gets safe, speedy and accessible crisis care whenever they need it, no
matter where they turn
4.
Transform the support for people who
are not working because of their mental health and create a system that really
helps them to overcome the barriers they face
5.
Increase
the overall NHS mental health budget by a minimum of 10 per cent in real terms
over five years
6. Implement a
national strategy that helps everyone to take care of their mental wellbeing
To
find out more about Mind's work and
about mental health please visit the websites below and help raise awareness & end the stigma.
Fozz.
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