Mental health refers to our psychological and emotional well-being. It has to do with how we think, feel and act, as well as how we handle stress and interact with those around us. As we go through life, the way we think and perceive things changes. As we experience different stressors, such as illness, trauma or abuse, our cognition changes. We all experience fluctuations in our mental health, and this may present in different ways. As people may suffer from physical illness, we also suffer from different mental illnesses, as we experience different life events.
There are many signs that someone is suffering from a mental illness such as changes in appetite, sleeping patterns, energy levels, severe mood swings, persistent intrusive thoughts or inability to complete tasks. These symptoms may affect how a person interacts with the people around them and their ability to care for themselves and others.
One in every four people deals with a common mental disorder at least once in their life. Statistics such as these help us to better understand the extent of mental illness. Moreover, common mental disorders such as depression or anxiety can sometimes go unchecked with people passing off the symptoms as stress or just low mood.
According to research by Liu et al 2016, 76-85% of people who have a mental disorder in low, middle-income countries do not access medical treatment. However, there are many programs currently running that are working to improve access to mental health professionals, namely organisations such as The Friendship Bench and other community outreach programs that are working to bring skilled workers into the communities.
In recent years, Zimbabwe has done a great job of scaling up the Friendship Bench to ensure that more people have access to mental health care. Moreover, with a drive also to train more people in the mental health field and improve the services currently available, more people will have access to professionals.
How to identify that you may need help
There are many things that can indicate that you are suffering from mental illness:
Why is it critical to address mental health?
Disease burden:
Mental health accounts for a percentage of the global burden of disease, taking a greater toll on human life and productivity than
heart disease or cancer. The aggregate years lived with disability (YDLs) from mental disorders is currently higher than any other
disease, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
- Counselling
- Therapy
- Opening the mind
- Primary care staff
- Problem-solving therapy
Accessing support
Reach out to one of our partners if you would like to learn more about mental health or access mental health services.
There are many signs that someone is suffering from a mental illness such as changes in appetite, sleeping patterns, energy levels, severe mood swings, persistent intrusive thoughts or inability to complete tasks. These symptoms may affect how a person interacts with the people around them and their ability to care for themselves and others.
One in every four people deals with a common mental disorder at least once in their life. Statistics such as these help us to better understand the extent of mental illness. Moreover, common mental disorders such as depression or anxiety can sometimes go unchecked with people passing off the symptoms as stress or just low mood.
According to research by Liu et al 2016, 76-85% of people who have a mental disorder in low, middle-income countries do not access medical treatment. However, there are many programs currently running that are working to improve access to mental health professionals, namely organisations such as The Friendship Bench and other community outreach programs that are working to bring skilled workers into the communities.
In recent years, Zimbabwe has done a great job of scaling up the Friendship Bench to ensure that more people have access to mental health care. Moreover, with a drive also to train more people in the mental health field and improve the services currently available, more people will have access to professionals.
How to identify that you may need help
There are many things that can indicate that you are suffering from mental illness:
- - Feeling sad for an extended period of time
- - Increased difficulty carrying out normal day to day tasks
- - Losing interest in the activities that you were previously interested in
- - Low energy levels or problems sleeping Suicidal ideation
- - Detachment from reality, (hallucinations, paranoia, delusions)
Why is it critical to address mental health?
Disease burden:
Mental health accounts for a percentage of the global burden of disease, taking a greater toll on human life and productivity than
heart disease or cancer. The aggregate years lived with disability (YDLs) from mental disorders is currently higher than any other
disease, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
- Economic burden:
- Existing data suggest that the impact of untreated mental disorders on a country’s economy is massive and is larger than the economic burdens caused by other non-communicable diseases. In South Africa, having depression reduced personal income by $4798 per person per year (Lund, 2013). In Nigeria, people earned $463 less per year if they had severe mental illness (Esan, 2012). Household survey data from Ghana estimated that poor mental health caused 6.8% loss to GDP due to lack of productivity, a greater GDP loss than that due to malaria (Canavan, 2013).
- Lack of attention:
- Stigma, religious beliefs, misunderstanding of mental disorders and their treatments, and lack of knowledge of the magnitude of the global burden have led to low investment in mental health worldwide. Despite the burden of mental disorders, a small portion of health spending in low and middle-income countries goes to their treatment and prevention. Due to previous chronic underinvestment, development of mental health programs could have a substantial impact on the mental health of many, because they would be pioneering efforts that fill a gap in service delivery and change beliefs and awareness of individuals within the community.
- The relationship between mental health and HIV/AIDS:
- Lifesaving antiretroviral therapy for people with HIV is contingent on compliance with a strict medication regime. Studies show that many HIV-positive individuals struggle to take their medication regularly due to depression and psychosocial issues. Basic treatment for depression could help improve antiretroviral adherence among people living with HIV, thus increasing the cost-effectiveness and enhancing the delivery of major HIV prevention programs.
- Impact on other global health investments:
- Investing in mental health would not only increase the effectiveness of investment in HIV treatment, but also other global health programs. Studies have shown that people with mental illness are less likely to adhere to medication regimes, present for appointments and other treatments, or lead healthy lifestyles, and they have a higher risk of developing chronic diseases. Increasingly, donors are investing in global health interventions that rely on long-term behaviour changes. The success of programs such as hypertension or diabetes treatments, directly observed treatment (DOTS) for TB, and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) hinges on people altering their lifestyles and behaviour. It is inefficient to spend on these interventions while ignoring mental health. Mental health spending would be particularly high-impact because it would have positive spillover effects on other interventions.
- Cost-effectiveness of treatments and interventions:
- Data on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for mental disorders suggest that many treatments, particularly those that use well-established psychotropic drugs and are integrated with primary care, are feasible, effective, and cost-effective in low-income countries.
- Data on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for mental disorders suggest that many treatments, particularly those that use well-established psychotropic drugs and are integrated with primary care, are feasible, effective, and cost-effective in low-income countries.
- Counselling
- Therapy
- Opening the mind
- Primary care staff
- Problem-solving therapy
Accessing support
Reach out to one of our partners if you would like to learn more about mental health or access mental health services.