The World Health Organization posted an article on June 17, 2022 titled, “Mental Health” written by a World Health Organization professional. In this article they defined mental health as, “Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. Mental health is a basic human right. And it is crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.”
A person’s mental health can be affected by a number of things. Such as someone could feel worse due to a dropped job position. Or maybe a nice boast in their mental health from a raise. From the article titled “Mental Health” by The World Health Organization , “Throughout our lives, multiple individual, social and structural determinants may combine to protect or undermine our mental health and shift our position on the mental health continuum. Individual psychological and biological factors such as emotional skills, substance use and genetics can make people more vulnerable to mental health problems. Exposure to un-favourable social, economic, geopolitical and environmental circumstances – including poverty, violence, inequality and environmental deprivation – also increases people’s risk of experiencing mental health conditions.”
Mental Health.gov published an article titled, “What is Mental Health?” written by government and business leaders from Mental.gov published on February 28th, 2022. This article states that some early warning signs of poor mental health can include, “Eating or sleeping too much or too little, Pulling away from people and usual activities, Having low or no energy, Feeling numb or like nothing matters, Having unexplained aches and pains, Feeling helpless or hopeless, Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual, Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared, Yelling or fighting with family and friends, Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships, Having persistent thoughts and memories you can't get out of your head, Hearing voices or believing things that are not true, Thinking of harming yourself or others, Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school.”
Positive mental health is a very important thing to try to obtain. A person’s mental well being can affect everything from the people around them to their lives. Positive mental health can help people with the following, “Realize their full potential, Cope with the stresses of life, Work productively, Make meaningful contributions to their communities.” (Mental Health.gov, 2022) Sometimes we struggle to keep our positive thoughts and positive outlooks. And that’s okay we’re not expected to, but for people who struggle with keeping positive mental well being there are ways to help. Some of these ways to help are, “Getting professional help if you need it, Connecting with others, Staying positive, Getting physically active, Helping others, Getting enough sleep and Developing coping skills.” (Mental Health.gov, 2022)
Many people that struggle with mental health are unable to receive proper treatment. This may be due to finances, area they live in, or the astigmatism around receiving mental help. Mental Health America published an article titled, “The State of Mental Health in America'' in 2023. This article goes in depth with statistics about the mental health of Americans. In this article they state that, “Over half (54.7%) of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 28 million individuals. Even in Montana (ranked #1), over 4 in 10 adults with a mental illness did not receive care. Almost a third (28.2%) of all adults with a mental illness reported that they were not able to receive the treatment they needed. 42% of adults with AMI reported they were unable to receive necessary care because they could not afford it. 10.8% (over 5.5 million) of adults with a mental illness are uninsured. Hispanic adults with AMI were least likely to have health insurance, with 19% reporting they were not covered by insurance.” (Mental Health America, 2023) These statistics are insane, the fact that people cannot receive proper care or treatment. This is just national statistics, this does not even take into account international.
Many people wonder if mental health is important for overall health. The CDC says that “Mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health. For example, depression increases the risk for many types of physical health problems, particularly long-lasting conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.” Mental illnesses are one of the most common health conditions in the U.S. with 1 in every 5 American experiencing a mental illness in a given year. (CDC 2021) But mental health can change over time.
An article from the Tulane University says “Mental health has a huge impact on how people relate to others, make decisions, and handle stress. People’s ability to live fulfilling lives often depends on their mental health. This makes protecting and restoring mental health of immediate concern to public health professionals.” To reiterate, mental health can determine how you go about life. Not only does mental health issues affect one individual, it affects the people around them.
Now that you have read through our website we have two questions to ask you.
What percentage of adults are unable to receive mental health treatment?
What are three signs of poor mental health?
The NAMI Organization stands for National Alliance of Mental Illness. Started in 1979 NAMI is “the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. They are dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.” (NAMI, 2023)
The following is a link to the NAMI official website-https://nami.org/Home
You can contact NAMI at 800-950-6264 Mon-Fri 10 a.m-10 p.m ET, the following link is to the NAMI contact page- https://nami.org/Contact-Us
"About Mental Health." CDC Organization, 28 June 2021, .https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm
"The State of Mental Health in America." Mental Health America, mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america Accessed 21 Mar. 2023.
"MentalHealth.gov." What Is Mental Health?, 28 Feb. 2022, www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health
"Understanding Mental Health as a Public Health Issue." Tulane University, 13 Jan. 2021, publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/mental-health-public-health/
“World Health Organization”. Mental Health, June 2022, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/Mental-health-strengthening-our-response