Every year, the World Health Organization performs extensive health-based surveys to determine the overall health of global populations. Ironically, WHO published its last survey on mental health in the year 2017, even though noting its own lack of coverage on vital mental health issues, WHO announced the World Mental Health Report, which it will now publish every year from 2022. In the last published data in 2017, WHO claimed that 10.7% of the global population suffers from some kind of mental health disorder. With the understanding that mental health disorders are among the least reported or diagnosed health problems, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the burden of mental health disorders globally, it can be safely assumed that these figures present a fraction of the actual burden of mental health disorders across the world.
With this backdrop, let’s discuss why is it that mental health is persistently placed on the back burner – not only by individuals, communities, and societies but by international organizations dedicated to health. There are several reasons for this glaring oversight. First, mental health is an uncomfortable thing to talk about, because of the legacy of stereotyping mental health disorders. Even the most elite of organizations such as WHO is hesitant in talking about it. Secondly, mental health issues are pervasive – they don’t care about geography, politics, economics, or anything else. They are the great equalizer. Unlike physical illnesses and diseases, which are often tied to developmental orientations in various geographies, mental health creeps silently and can affect anyone. Finally, mental health disorders are not as visible. They do not cause measurable or tangible symptoms, they are not as directly attributable to morbidity and mortality as physical disease, and there are no universal standards for mental health. Interestingly though, many of these claims are myths – myths that we will dispel here.
Mental health is not visible: one of the most laughable assumptions about mental health disorders is that it is not visible. In fact, mental health is more visible than some of the most horrible physical diseases. Sure, someone with mental health disorders may not bleed, hemorrhage, cough, or wheeze. However, you can see mental health disorders in the slouch of a person’s shoulders; in the dark recesses of neighborhoods where young people get together for substance abuse; in the homes of people who lead reclusive lives because of trauma and fear; and in the physical symptoms such as palpitations, night terrors, histrionics, catatonia, confusion, delirium, suicidal ideation, excessive risk-taking, insomnia and much more. Mental health disorders invade every part of an individual’s life. A lot of them are so debilitating, that they impede a person’s ability to live normally or be a productive member of society.
Mental health is not measurable: it is true that mental health is difficult to measure, and its epidemiology is harder to generate than physical health. However, this is not because mental health cannot be measured, or measurement standards do not exist for mental health. Instead, it is because to capture the full spectrum of mental health issues that may exist within a given population, trained evaluators are not available. One of the biggest tragedies with the discipline of psychology is that despite its many contributions to improving global well-being and alleviating mental health disorders, it has still not gained primacy among health professionals and there is a glaring lack of qualified and skilled mental health professionals who can measure the burden of mental health disorders appropriately.
Mental health is not directly attributable to morbidity or mortality: there is now extensive research to show increased mortality among patients with severe mental disorders such as bipolar depression and schizophrenia. In fact, studies show that mortality in mentally ill patients is more than twice as high as in the general population. 14.3% of all deaths across the globe are attributable to mental health disorders, and 90% of suicides are associated with mental health disorders in general, making it one of the most severe burdens on public health.
Mental health is not a real burden: this claim is almost laughable. Apart from the actual physical burden of morbidity and mortality caused by mental health disorders, a study in The Lancet suggests that lost productivity as a result of anxiety and depression – two of the most common mental illnesses, cost the US economy alone $1 trillion each year. The global figures would clearly be staggering – especially considering that the U.S. is among the countries that spend the highest amount of money on mental health.
The research is all there, to prove how real mental health challenges are, and how the world is suffering for the lack of attention being paid to these disorders. Large percentages of populations all over the world suffer from various mental health disorders and all families are touched by them in some way or another. Yet, mental health disorders and diseases continue to be downplayed because of the myths that have surrounded them. It is important now, to dispel this myth and give mental health the right kind of attention that it deserves.
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