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Mental health is everybody’s business

Interviews   |  17.04. 2021

Increased mental ill health is an inevitable consequence of lockdown; however, dealing with this will require realistic resources. A European Day for mental health will help bring the required focus, write the co-chairs of the MEP Alliance for Mental Health.

Mental ill health has costs and consequences impacting individuals, their families and carers, health and social systems, employers, communities, and the economy. It affects more than one in six people in any given year, at a total cost of over €600bn – or more than four percent of EU GDP.

Mental health disorders are the fastest-growing current health burden, responsible for one third of all disabilities, for 15 percent of all inpatient costs and for a quarter of all drug costs. Poor mental health is consistently associated with unemployment, low incomes or poor standards of living, compromised physical health, challenging life events, poor quality of life, stigma and taboo.

At the same time, the loss of income resulting from unemployment or poor working conditions can easily trigger a decline in the standard of living of the individual or household. This, in turn, can affect mental health.

Dealing with mental ill health requires engaging with a range of services, such as health and social care, employment, education, and housing. Often, they are not aware of the scale and urgency of the matter. Moreover, public healthcare services very often lack the necessary capacity for dealing with mental health illness.

Paradoxically, despite this pervasive impact on individuals and society, and despite many governments acknowledging the issue, mental health and related policies have been accorded relatively low priority in practice across the EU.

However, now is the time to take action to change this: the COVID-19 pandemic has truly put the spotlight on the importance of mental health and well-being, as highlighted - inter alia - by the 2020 Health at a Glance report, compiled by the OECD in cooperation with the European Commission. This shows that rates of anxiety and depression are already increasing as a consequence of the pandemic.

“Dealing with mental ill health requires engaging with a range of services, such as health and social care, employment, education and housing. Often, they are not aware of the scale and urgency of the matter.”

The related measures taken - for example, the lockdown, leading to social isolation or teleworking – have resulted in problems of disconnection from work as well as difficulties maintaining a healthy work-life balance. These emotional disorders will only increase as a result of the predicted economic and social uncertainty.

Source: https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/mental-health-is-everybodys-business