No Health Without Mental Health

 

It’s well known that mental health is a prerequisite for overall health.  But In the United States and in countries around the world many people lack access to affordable mental health services.  Without access to care, people suffer in silence from depression, anxiety, and other psychoses.  Mothers suffer alone from postpartum depression.  Adolescents, suffering from treatable mental health conditions, often resort to self-harm, risky behaviors, and even suicide.  Individuals and families suffer from the ravages of alcoholism and related family violence.  

When tragedies such as the mass shootings at Virginia Tech or in Aurora, Colorado take place, the lack of mental health care for individuals in desperate need is highlighted in the news media, but often only briefly.  But every day, the poor and minorities suffer from inadequate access to mental healthcare.  Even well-off people are can be denied care because of the stigma attached to mental health problems or because insurance does not provide coverage.

In the United States and around the world, health care systems are overstretched by the burden of infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, accidents and violence.  But this is no excuse to ignore mental health.  It’s time to pay attention to the mental health of the population. Everyone has a right to mental health. The poor and minorities need access.  Even the middle class people need to be freed from the stigma of seeking care for mental health problems.  And insurance companies should find ways to provide coverage for mental health care.

There is no health without mental health.  We must promote access to mental health care for all.