“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” As stated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) constitution.

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England. 1 in 6 people will report experiencing a common mental health illness such as depression or anxiety. However, even though these statistics show that mental health illnesses are common there is still little support for those experiencing them worldwide.

Mental health problems are increasing worldwide. Between 2017 and 2018, 19% of adults experienced a mental illness, an increase of 1.5 million and still going up depending on various factors, one of which is stigma.

Stigma creates an environment of false information and gives those experiencing mental health illnesses even more stress and anxiety when wishing to seek help, often stopping them from doing so completely. Stigma results in individuals going years and sometimes even a lifetime without support.

To battle factors that damage mental health there needs to be solid positive change worldwide. By seeing leaders and people we all look up to for support speak about mental health in a positive manner, it helps to create a society that encourages one another to talk about our mental health and not turn away from it, a society that moves away from the harm caused by stigma.

We can also work towards this by promoting the need for conversations and protection for those with mental health illnesses. Minorities are greatly impacted by how society perceives mental health, and the affect society has on minorities leading to increase amounts of anxiety and depression.

While there is not one cause for someone’s mental health problems and not everyone experiences the same symptoms or at the same intensity. The cause for mental health illnesses can be put into three categories, biological, social and psychological. The following factors have been proven to result in the build-up of mental health problems for short or long periods at any given time.

• Childhood abuse (social and psychological)
• Social isolation (social and psychological)
• Bullying (social)
• Severe or long-term stress (psychological)
• Family relationships (social)
• Alcohol or drug use (biological and social)
• Unemployment or losing your job (social)
• Losing someone close to you (social)
• Sleeping problems (biological and psychological)
• Financial problems (social)
• Genetics (biological)
• Physical health (biological)
• Discrimination (social)

Any aspect of life that has caused a significant impact and resulted in trauma will greatly affect someone’s mental health, as well as any changes in your environment that causes on-going stress and pressure.

If you find yourself experiencing problems with your mental health here are some steps you can take to help towards improving this.

Stay active – Exercise has been proven to increase your mood and by getting the correct amount of daily exercise along with a balanced diet you’re sure to see improvements. You can sign up to a gym, walk around your neighbourhood or create a workout routine in your living room.

Get enough sleep – You can start to work towards getting better sleep by slowly introducing a sleep routine into your life. You could write this down in a book or keep a note of it on your phone. Try waking up to natural light rather than an alarm, alarms can be annoying and loud so investing in a natural light alarm could be worth it.

Create connections with others – You can do this by messaging/calling/meeting up with loved ones from time to time. If you have a pet this is also a great way to make connections, for example if you’re walking your dog people could stop you and ask questions about your pet, this takes the pressure of thinking of something to say from you but still allows you to have conversations with others.

Talk about your feelings – You can do this with a professional or share some of your feelings with those you trust. Remember to check with your loved ones if they can listen to what you have to say before sharing, not everyone has the space and that’s okay. You can always try writing your thoughts and feelings down, treat yourself by buying a nice notebook just for your feelings and thoughts.

Fuel your hobbies – When faced with mental health problems it becomes easy to push away any hobbies we once had or we can start to find it difficult to concentrate on things that make us feel good. Which is why finding new hobbies could be useful or having a mixture of a few each week. For example, if you like music, you could try finding a new band each week or create new playlists or maybe you even play an instrument. Fuelling your hobbies for as little as 30 minutes a day helps to further your skills and boost your mood.

Another way you can boost your mood is by caring for others and witnessing the impact you have on someone’s life. Which is yet another reason why we think you should work in care, if you’re interested and think this could help with your mental health journey, then contact us today at [email protected] or 0800 368 9644

All these steps can be difficult for many suffering from mental health illnesses. Which is why it’s incredibly important you ease into them, just a few hours of practice each day goes a long way. Recovery is possible with a mixture of both professional and personal treatment options.

What is being done to strengthen responses to mental health and how is mental health being promoted?

Mental health promotion is an unfamiliar concept for many people. Many are unaware of the importance of mental health promotion and ways to support this. This could be as a result of many factors, one being that mental illness is unclear to them, when you don’t experience something first-hand it can be difficult to understand.

Which is why the promotion of mental health worldwide among governments is so important. As said before, when those we look up to for guidance and support speak highly of and in a positive manner about mental health, it encourages conversations that help rather than shame those living with mental health conditions.

Organisations such as WHO offer information and plans set out to help towards promoting mental health. In 2013, the World Health Assembly approved a “Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan for 2013-2020″. A commitment made by all WHO’s Member States to take specific actions to improve mental health.

The 4 key objectives were to:

• Strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health
• Provide comprehensive, integrated and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings
• Implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health
• Strengthen information systems, evidence and research for mental health

As said by a WHO article.

More plans were made in 2018 for the “WHO Special Initiative for the Mental Health” covering the 5-year period 2019-2023. The need for improvement was established by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General who identified mental health to be an area that needed action to be accelerated. These plans target 12 priority countries reaching over 100 million people. Not all countries have been announced yet, however the ones that are have already taken initial assessments of what needs changing and how this can be done. The countries which have been announced so far include:

• Bangladesh
• Jordan
• Nepal
• Paraguay
• The Philippines
• Ukraine
• Zimbabwe

The goal of the initiative is to ensure that 100 million more people have access to quality and affordable mental health care by 2023.

Plans like these are crucial so that responses towards mental health are strengthened.

Find out more on mental health HERE