by Dr. Chua Sook Ning, PhD
We celebrate World Mental Health Day on October 10th 2020. This international event offers an important contribution to raising mental health awareness and advocating against the social stigma of mental health. The 2020 World Mental Health campaign encourages us to invest: it calls on society to invest in providing mental health education; to invest in raising the quality and standard of mental health services; and to invest in making sure we deliver effective treatment, support and care for those who need it.
In line with this year’s campaign, I would like to highlight another aspect of investing in mental health i.e. how we can invest in taking care of our own well-being.
I believe there are two main reasons why we should pivot from the conventional perspective of seeing mental health as a concern only for some people, to seeing mental health as a fundamental part of who we are, and that we all need to take care of our psychological and emotional well-being. There is no health without mental health.
- The first reason that we should all take steps toward actively caring for our mental health is that mental health conditions are common and costly.
The social and economic impact of mental health conditions is staggering.
Over 1 billion people have a mental health condition in the world. In fact, 80% of the population will have a mental health condition at some time in their life. Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health conditions. Depression is characterized by low mood and loss of interest or pleasure. Anxiety is that feeling of worry or fear, being on edge and filled with uncertainty. The worldwide prevalence of depression and anxiety is about 5%, or 1 in 20 people will have depression or anxiety.
The causes of mental health are varied and complex. They include our genetic material, our current biological health, and our social environment. We all have our own individual experiences, traumas and relationships that play a part. Some of these things can put us at risk, while other experiences protect us. When our experiences are in a balanced state, we’re mentally healthy—we can think clearly, we feel OK, and we can function productively. But when the combination of our experiences goes out of balance, our mental health deteriorates. Poor mental health comes at a high personal cost. It affects your physical health, your attention and focus, your energy levels, your sleep, and even your social interactions. Simply put, you can’t be the best version of who you are.
That said, the costs of poor mental health go beyond the individual. While mental health conditions are often referred to as invisible illnesses, the impact is clear for all to see. Globally, the cumulative cost of the loss of productivity due to depression and anxiety alone is US$1 trillion every single year. To put that figure into perspective, it could provide you with US$1 million to spend every day…for the next 3,000 years. It’s also enough to cover the yearly salaries for 18 million teachers in America.
This is what we’re losing, and it’s completely avoidable if we commit to investing in better mental health.
2. The second reason is that investing in your mental health leads to rewards that last a lifetime
We know that poor mental health is costly – to the individual, to their friends and family and wider society.And yet, we are not investing nearly as much as we should into mental health and well-being.
On an individual basis we often maintain the pithy advice to “keeping calm and carry on”. This well-intentioned attitude may be contributing to the average global treatment gap of 50%. This figure means that 50% of people who have a mental health condition do not receive any treatment whatsoever. For half of the population, their problem is untreated and often deteriorates. In low-and middle-income countries, the treatment gap is more than 75%.
Why, you might ask, is the treatment gap so wide? Despite progress made over the past half-century in mental health investment, we still have a long way to go. On average, countries allocate a meagre 2% of their overall budget to mental health services.
The World Health Organization makes a case for advancing our efforts in mental health. It estimates that for every 1 US dollar invested in mental health programs, there is a 5 dollar return in health and economic benefits. People get the help that they need, they become more resilient, they cope with stressors better – and this leads to them being healthier, happier and able to be more creative and productive in their work.
On an institutional level, system supports can be made available through research, staff and services. We need more research funding into understanding the prevalence, causes and treatments of mental health conditions. We need more trained counsellors and psychologists who can provide effective mental health care in the public health care system. Organizations can use Employee Assistance Programs to provide accessible and flexible mental health support to their staff. All of us can be trained in mental health literacy and mental health first aid. In essence, we need everyone to be committed to creating a society that ensures everyone receives the support they need to fulfil their potential.
But the impetus for change to start that journey of well-being starts with each one of us. This means you and me. Because only we can demand the necessary investment in collective mental health by demanding it for ourselves and others. Instead of waiting for somebody to create much-needed progress, we need to step up and be that somebody.
We live such busy lives, always thinking about the next thing on our to-do list that we miss out on what’s happening in the now. I’ve come to realize that even though the 5-year career plan is important, and future goals are necessary…but so is the present moment.
We needed to start focusing on what we need for well-being in the present moment, in order to have a fulfilling life now and in future.
Investing in your future means advocating for our mental health now. We all need to make a commitment to and investment in ourselves, starting today.
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