Mental Health Awareness Week is in progress across the UK, with the focus of this year’s campaign on relationships.
The recognition of mental health conditions as true illnesses is more common now than ever, but there’s still a lack of understanding around conditions like depression and anxiety – the two most commonly diagnosed problems.
Currently, one in four adults has a diagnosable mental health condition, but worryingly three quarters of people suffering receive no treatment. It’s the biggest cause of disease in the UK, representing 28% of the total burden; in comparison, cancer and heart disease represent 16% each. Despite this, mental health research only accounts for 5.5% of UK health research spending. Over 70 million work days are lost due to mental health issues – primarily stress, anxiety and depression – making it the most common cause of sickness absence.
Possibly even more concerning is the statistic that one in ten children has a diagnosable mental health illness, yet 70% don’t receive support or help early enough. This has been attributed to modern social life pressures, including social media, but also an education environment in which young people are taught “to pass exams”.
The government looked to be addressing this in September, appointing Natasha Devon MBE as mental health champion for young people. However, earlier this month she was sacked after criticising government policies on school exams.
“You cannot apply an adult amount of pressure to a child and expect them to cope,” Ms Devon argued at the ‘Good Mental Health in Schools – What Works?’ conference. She also cited a Young Minds survey that revealed exam stress is one of the biggest concerns young people have. This can lead to behavioural problems, anxiety, lack of sleep and disturbed eating patterns; it’s easy to see that poor mental health can quickly become a vicious cycle.
Ms Devon said that, in her time as mental health champion, dialogue with the Department for Education (DfE) was difficult and one-sided. “I only ever seemed to get any contact from the DfE when I was being told off for something, and that really frustrated me… When I was submitting all these questions about the state of the education system, they [were] just ignored for ever.”
With half of mental illnesses manifesting themselves before the age of 14, and children diagnosed with mental health conditions suffering significantly in later life because of it, it’s essential to address the problem at an early age. First and foremost, there should be a basic understanding of mental health conditions in schools and beyond. Education staff should be adequately equipped to support students struggling with their mental health, and it should be embedded into the curriculum to make sure young people understand what they or their peers might be suffering from. By educating the future generation on the importance of mental health, we can prevent young people from feeling isolated or being bullied because of it. Many have recommended that making PSHE compulsory will help tackle this issue, bringing problems faced outside of school or college to the forefront for young people.
It’s not just our young people who would benefit from a society that’s more clued-up on mental health. Studies have shown that it affects people of a lower socio-economic status more, and it can affect physical health too. Additionally, while there can be a misconception that people with mental health problems can be violent, they’re actually more likely to suffer from violence.
While exam stress can affect a young person’s mental health, and vice versa, it’s not too dissimilar in the workplace. Mental health conditions affect a person’s ‘presenteeism’; even though a person may not be absent from work due to mental health-related sickness, it’s proven to affect their productivity at work. Yet there’s still a belief that mental illnesses are lesser than physical illnesses or disabilities. It’s time to end this stigma, and we can do it through education from an early age, less pressure on young people, and acceptance.
All statistics sourced from Fundamental Facts.
Are you taking part in any activities for Mental Health Awareness Week? How do you think we can effectively address this issue?
