World Mental Health Day occurs each October.
The extensive literature for this project contains the core of the focus for participants:
- Prevention of Suicide and Depression
- Mental Health in Youth and Education
- Mental Health in Workplace Settings
- Mental Health in Older People
Good mental health as a resource
There is no health without mental health. Good mental health is important for individuals as well as for society. At individual level good, mental health enables people to realise their intellectual and emotional potential and to find and fulfil their roles in social, school and working life.
At society level good mental health is a resource for social cohesion, a better social and economic welfare and it facilitates the transition of the nation into a knowledge society.
The burden of mental ill health
Mental ill health is common: A significant share of citizens - studies suggest up to 27% - experiences a mental health problem. Almost everybody will know a person in his/her environment, which experiences or has experienced a mental health problem.
Mental ill health can drastically reduce the quality of life of the affected and their families. It is a leading cause of disability. The most common mental disorders in the EU are anxiety and depression.
In Europe, depression is present in 4.5% of the general population every year. By the year 2020, depression is expected to be the second most common cause of disability in the developed world.
Suicide - a consequence of mental ill health
Currently, in the European Union around 58,000 citizens die from suicide every year; more than the annual deaths from road traffic accidents (50,700). Mental ill health can lead to the act or the attempt of committing suicide.
Up to 90% of suicide cases are preceded by a history of mental ill health, often depression.
Mental and physical health
There is an increasing understanding of the close inter-relation between mental and physical health: For instance, back pain often is the consequence of mental health problems.
Depression is a risk factor for heart diseases. Conversely, persons affected by long term and chronic diseases or physical disabilities are consistently more often affected by a major depression than the general population.
Also, the presence of mental disorder in addition to a physical disorder (co-morbidity) is associated with poorer treatment adherence and outcome.
Social and economic costs of mental ill health
Mental ill health is not only a challenge for the health sector. Beyond its implications for the affected citizens and their families, mental ill health imposes significant costs to society and its economic, educational, social, criminal and justice systems.
Mental disorders are among the top three reasons for absence from work and are a leading cause of early retirement or disablement pension. It has been estimated that the economic costs of mental ill health result in a loss of up to 3-4% of a country’s Gross Domestic Product, largely due to absense from work.
I'm Bernard Kelly of www.retirelaughing.comLabels: health and wellbeing, mental health, retirement |
