In this blog, we talk about mental health as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
What Is Mental Health?
We all have mental health. It’s not only about mental illness or mental disorders but it’s rather a continuum, going from mental disorders like depression and anxiety all the way to a state of positive mental health when we’re thriving, content and fulfilled. Mental health conditions can be temporary, as everyone feels ups and downs sometimes when their life circumstances change. This is an example of postpartum psychosis happening after a woman has given birth:
Mental health is now widely recognised as important because people with a positive mental health are resilient and able to cope with life events, feel in control, confident and good about themselves, can manage and express their emotions and build and maintain good relationships.
Poor Mental Health Can Be a Disability
A mental health condition is considered a disability if it has a long-term effect on the person’s normal day-to-day activity like using a computer, working set times or interacting with people.There are many different types of mental health condition which can lead to a disability, including dementia, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.
Watch this story about someone with bipolar disorder:
Mental Health of People with a Disability
According to the Office for National Statistics, adults with disabilities report experiencing frequent mental distress almost 5 times as often as adults without disabilities. Disabled people with a mental impairment as a main health problem have the poorest well-being ratings in terms of happiness, worthwhile and life satisfaction measures. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since we have shared multiple stories of people with asthma, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease in previous blogs, in which you can see the impact that their disability has on their mental health.
On top of this, during the Covid-19 pandemic, isolation, disconnect, disrupted routines, and diminished health services have greatly impacted the lives and mental wellbeing of people with disabilities.
Become a Mental Health Ally
Unfortunately, even nowadays, there is a lot of stigma about mental health. This causes people to not seek help and treatment for their mental health, which can only make the condition worse. Watch this short video to understand some of the stigmas:
It’s sometimes difficult to realise we discriminate against people with a mental health condition. Check out this social experiment to learn about the impact on employment and relationship for people with a mental health condition and why they don’t always dare to speak up. On mental health awareness week, what do you want to do to become an ally?
Featured photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash
