Discussion About Mental Health (Term Paper Sample)

Public health and health promotion
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Introduction.
When discussing about mental health, it is referring to emotional, cognitive and behavioral well-being. It is about how a person thinks, behaves and feels. Mental health is a very significant factor in any human being’s life, the reason being that it contributes to a person’s ability to enjoy their daily living, physical health and relationships CITATION Sil15 \l 2057 (Silvana Galderisi, 2015). When a person’s mental health is in jeopardy it means this aspects of a person are also affected to a great extent. When mentally healthy a person is able cope with normal stress, they can work productively, and they make contributions to their community.
Everyone can be affected by mental health, however, the population group I want to focus on is men. According to the WHO, in the high-income countries, three times more men die of suicide compared to women CITATION WHO18 \l 2057 (WHO, 2018). Despite all this, research shows that men are less likely to receive formal mental health support and treatment compared to women. The reason being that, there has been a lot of stigma around men’s mental health CITATION kee22 \l 2057 (keepingwellblmk.nhs.uk, 2022). The cultural stigma is the biggest obstacle to men admitting that they are struggling and seeking help. That is why mental health in men is particularly a public health concern. When men are affected with mental health issues, they become irritable, they have a sudden anger, they become aggressive and they can even indulge in taking alcohol and/or drugs and other risky behaviors CITATION Sar22 \l 2057 (Sarah K. Mckenzie, 2022). Some try to escape by immersing themselves into their work.
Even though the mind and the body are usually seen as being separate, they greatly impact each other. Good mental health can positively impact your physical health and the vice versa is also true. According to WHO patients with type 2 diabetes are more likely to suffer from depression when compared to the general population CITATION who212 \l 2057 (who.int, 2021). This is proof that the mind and body are connected more than we think.
Mental health plays a significant role in a person’s general well-being. Being mentally healthy can prevent one from serious health conditions. Research has shown that good mental health reduces the risks of strokes and heart attacks CITATION Ohr17 \l 2057 (Ohrnberger, 2017). For example, depression has been largely linked to chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, arthritis and cardiovascular diseases. And if one already had a chronic disease, then mental health issues makes it even more difficult to deal with the disease. For example, mortality rate from diabetes increases when patients are experiencing mental health conditions. When a person is not mentally healthy, it only means they are not capable of taking care of themselves as required. That may cause problems in their eating habits and their general lifestyle CITATION who171 \l 2057 (who.int, 2017). The outcome of all these is issues in their physical health.
Mental health in men is often overlooked and it goes untreated and professionally handled. The reason behind this factor is the stigma attached to mental health of men. Men feel shame admitting that they have mental issues and they need help CITATION Sha22 \l 2057 (Sharp P, 2022). The society has portrayed a man as a strong person who is not supposed to show weakness at any point in time. Whenever a man shows up to seek help for mental problem they are facing, they are discriminated and viewed as not real men. The culture of toxic masculinity where a man is not supposed to cry, fear or show weakness of any form is what is making mental health in men difficult to handle and deal with.
As a result this stigma and cultural expectations make the mental issues in men to worsen. They start abusing substances, they face issues with relationships and interpersonal intimacy, violence and increase in general psychological distress. The mortality rate and morbidity increases in this population because of the negative effect of culture towards seeking help, and initial treatment of mental health issues.
In the UK, in the recent years there have been great pressure on men to be the ‘perfect man’. The perception of a perfect man is that they are great fathers, having a successful career, being a provider, and looking good body-wise CITATION UKP18 \l 2057 (Parliament, 2018). This kind of pressure put on men can easily push them to mental issues. You get men are suffering from anxiety, depression, eating disorders and OCD. There is study that shows that about 40% of men in the UK would not talk about their mental health issues until they have had thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Yet, the earlier a mental health issue is dealt with the better it is for the patient to get back to their normal selves.
That is why many associations have come up with plans in the UK such as CALM to start raising awareness on the importance of seeking help. To ensure men understand that when you seek help earlier, then you increase your chances of recovery. The associations are trying to promote discussion of mental health issues. To break down gender stereotypes, so that there is creation of a happier, less judgemental environment CITATION gov22 \l 2057 (gov.uk, 2022). This will aid in the removal and easing the causes of stress to help improve mental health for men.
Social determinants of health inequalities are a group of conditions in which people are born, grow up, live and work. They are social and economic circumstances that influence health throughout a person’s life CITATION Isl19 \l 2057 (Islam, 2019). There are various determinants but in our case of mental health in men, the influential ones include; personal characteristics, social and community, and cultural and environmental conditions.
For starters, personal characteristic such as sex increases the risk of mortality and morbidity through mental health issues. The fact that someone is male it makes it even more difficult to come out and seek help when they are struggling. Social and community determinant also plays a big role and increases the risk of mental health issues in men. The reason being that family and the society put very big expectations on men, such that when they have not attained the expectations they feel inferior and plunge into poor mental health CITATION men21 \l 2057 (mentalhealth.org.uk, 2021). The cultural and environmental conditions does not make it easy either for men to come out and seek help or protect themselves from poor mental health. This is because the culture has attached stigma and shame to poor mental health. Once a man admits that they need professional help in their mental health, then they start being viewed as weak. Neither can they protect themselves from mental health issues because of the toxicity around masculinity, for example, that a man has to be violent or rough in order for them to be viewed as being man enough.
Health promotion is the process through which people are enabled to increase their control over health and its determinants, therefore, improving their health. Health promotion is very important because it alleviates the burden of disease and puts the foundation of the growth of the society. People are therefore equipped to make healthier choices and reduce their risk of disease. It leads to the improvement of quality of life, elimination of health disparities, and improve the availability of healthcare and related services.
Mental health promotion in men will go a long way in reconstructing masculinity to navigate the perceived tensions between mental health and masculine norms CITATION Che171 \l 2057 (Cherisse L. Seaton, 2017). It will also aid in reducing the incidences of mental health problems, such as suicide and self-harm. It will also facilitate early interventions for men facing mental health problems. It will bring along programs that will strengthen mental health and make it easy to deal with the problems when they come up. Generally, mental health promotion encourages and increases protective factors and healthy behaviors that help prevent the onset of a mental disorder. And further reduce the risk factors that may lead to the development of a mental disorder.
The UK updated the Mental Health Act (MHA) of 1993 in 2007, it specifically highlights the rights of the people with mental health problems. This is in regard to the assessment and treatment in hospital, treatment in the community and pathways into hospital. All these ensure that a person receives the required treatment without discrimination or judgement and also to be safe. The policies greatly emphasize on the human rights. The policies ensure that the treatment for mental health problems is comprehensive and evidence based.
The major objectives of the mental health policies is to improve the patient’s outcome in physical health and experience of care, reduction in avoidable harm and stigma. However, there is a challenge, because very many people require the mental health services and the provision is inadequate CITATION The161 \l 2057 (England, 2016). It has over time improve mental health services and tried to accord it the priority of physical health. The NHS has created teams that are on the standby, 7 days a week to help so that service users can get access to the service anytime they need to. They have also tried to integrate mental and physical health programmes. This makes mental health service easily available, and also ensure that prevention measures are in place. They are raising awar...