Mental Health
‘There is no health without mental health’
Mental health is an essential dimension of health as defined in the WHO constitution: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Mental health is an integral part of this definition.
Mental health can be conceptualized as a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation for well-being and effective functioning for an individual and for a community.
Official WHO Reports show that more than 450 million people in the world today suffer from mental illness. Of these, only 50 million receive adequate mental health assistance and an overwhelming majority of them live in developed countries. Most of the remaining 400 million mentally ill persons live in low income countries: half of these people receive poor and inadequate assistance, which includes long term institutionalization where violations of human rights are quite common, while half of them are not assisted or treated by any kind of mental health service.
About 14% of the global burden of disease in the world is represented by neuropsychiatric pathologies, most of which are chronical disabling diseases like depression, psychosis, alcoholism and substances abuse. The burden of mental illnesses is quite always underestimated, also due to the insufficient acknowledgement of the close relation between health and mental health. Mental illnesses affect and are affected by chronic conditions such as cancer, heart and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. Untreated, they bring about unhealthy behaviour, non-compliance with prescribed medical regimens, diminished immune functioning, and poor prognosis.
Cost-effective treatments exist for most disorders, like epilepsy and depression, and, if correctly applied, could enable most of those affected to become functioning members of society. Science made important progress in order to alleviate suffering and minimize the impact of mental disabilities, while new instruments and methodologies have been developed in order to involve families and local communities in the re-integration process.
But most middle and low-income countries devote less than 1% of their health expenditure to mental health. Consequently mental health policies, legislation, community care facilities, and treatments for people with mental illness are not given the priority they deserve. Barriers to effective treatment of mental illness include lack of recognition of the seriousness of mental illness and lack of understanding about the benefits of services. Policy makers, insurance companies, health and labour policies, and the public at large – all discriminate between physical and mental problems.
Both individuals and institutions are responsible for such situation. The gap between the treatments the patients receive and the assistance they are actually in need of is wide: even in countries with a developed health system, up to 70% of mental ill people do not have access to any therapy.
Nowadays, stigma and discrimination are widely considered by public health authorities as the most important forbidding barriers that people with mental disorders have to face. Despite the fact that most families around the world have a mentally ill person among their relatives or friends, shame and fear still prevent patients and their families from claiming and looking for help and assistance.
