5. lokakuuta 2020, klo 14.25
Throughout our lives, many of us will experience mental health problems which can have an effect on our thoughts, behaviour, and mood. These problems are something that can affect anyone, regardless of age, race, or economic and social status. Here are a couple of things you might not be aware of in regards to your mental health:
Climate change is considered to be a huge threat to the world. The term Eco-Anxiety is used to describe how many people feel helpless and anxious in the face of the environment's ill-fated and irreversible condition. A common thought pattern within Eco-Anxiety is to fear for oneself, children, and later generations. A person might go to sleep thinking “How can I help turn around the state of the planet? There is only so much I can do, I feel so powerless about it all.”
If a society is unequal, it is more likely that there are more widespread health challenges like chronic diseases, self-isolation, or increased levels of violence and lower life expectancy. Part of this can be explained down to the availability of mental health services. Availability is very dependent on a country's economic development. The number of untreated mental health disorders is typically far greater in low-income countries, compared to untreated mental disorders in high-income countries.
The assumption that people who suffer from a mental health problem can just ‘snap out of it’ is false. Mental health problems have little correlation with being lazy or weak, many people actually need treatment or help for them to improve their health condition. Factors which can be linked to mental health problems are, for example:
Setting oneself to the task of learning new skills is positive for mental health. Whether you try out a new responsibility at work through taking a new course or try learning a new language, it can have several positive effects. Some of them include:
Gender is found to be a critical determinant of mental health and mental illness. The differences between genders are particularly visible in common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Unipolar depression is not only twice as common but also more persistent in women compared to men. Another common disorder, namely the prevalence of alcohol dependence, is twice as high for men. In developed countries, results show that 1 in 5 men and 1 in 12 women suffer from alcohol dependence throughout life.