Men & Mental Health

Pic: ImageQuest

A few weeks ago, the singer Kanye West was hospitalised for stress and exhaustion following a melt-down on stage. There followed a show of support from a number of fellow musicians. This was very significant according to this article, as a positive move towards a change in attitudes and the stigma attached to mental health issues, particularly in the African American male community; the macho hip-hop culture has meant that mental health issues are not usually discussed openly and those suffering have been far less likely to seek help.

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A report published earlier this year, outlined the changes to be introduced over the coming years in response to the Mental Health Taskforce’s recommendations to improve care. In addition, the Ministry of Justice and NHS England are working together to develop a £24m programme targeting mental health support at young offenders.

World Mental Health Day

10th October is the date that marks Mental Health Day and reminds us of the silent suffering of 450m people around the world. This year, it coincides with the publication of the Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, a report by the NHS, which shows statistics for the adult population in the UK. It highlights that young women aged between 16-24, are at the highest risk of mental health disorders. The main issues they face are anxiety and depression with high rates of self-harm and post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorders. Many of these problems appear to be fuelled by social pressure especially on social media - a research study has also linked the Pill with depression.

The Mental Health Foundation website offers several reports on related topics; this feature talks about mental health crises of women in the perinatal period. There is also the report: 'The impact of traumatic events on mental health'.

Talking about female mental health issues can sometimes take the spotlight off men suffering from depression; however, many celebrities, such as Bruce Springsteen who has talked openly about his depression, are helping other men seek help.

Mental Health update

The Department for Education has announced plans to help young people set up online advice networks and workshops so that they can offer peer support on mental health issues.

A recent issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry included a supplement in which the editors make the case for a transformation of mental health care for young people based on early intervention and a priority focus on emerging adulthood.

The Mental Health Taskforce has published a report, which takes a strategic approach to improving mental health outcomes and makes recommendations for the NHS. 

Place2Be and NAHT give a picture of primary school counselling provision across the country. They believe that all schools need access to or the ability to host professional mental health services, in order to effectively support children and build their resilience for the future, 

The Institute of Health Visiting is calling on local authorities, to ensure that all health visitors have the training, capacity and support to provide “sufficient advice to all new parents”. They stated that an increased focus on the first two years of a child's life would help the NHS to reduce the impact of maternal depression and other perinatal mental health problems on babies’ mental wellbeing. The responsibility for the commissioning of public health services for under-fives was handed to local authorities last October.

What's making children unhappy?

The Good Childhood Report by the Children's Society found that 10 to 12 year olds in England ranked 14th out of 15 nations for happiness, behind Germany, Spain and South Africa; the UK has also come far down similar global lists drawn up by UNICEF. Modern stress could be to blame for increasing child depression in the the UK; more teenagers are now turning to counselling to help them cope with the pressures of social media - research has also linked Facebook with depression in young adults and children. Bullying, including cyber-bullying and self harm, was reported as the main issues of concern by ChildLine last year. Overall, 35,244 of the counselling sessions held by the service in 2014/15 were related to low self-esteem and unhappiness.

Prof. Mark Williams at Oxford University, confirmed that "technostress" was growing. "Every generation thinks it is more stressed than the last. It's usually not true but this time it looks [as if] it is. That's because this is the first generation that is constantly flitting between the actual, real world and the virtual world of the internet. It's not multitasking, it's multi-switching - and there are switching costs, mainly distraction, exhaustion, irritability and mood swings."

British nine and ten-year-olds are also getting the least sleep, the main reason appearing to be the use of electronic devices in the bedroom. This was found to be a common phenomenon in affluent countries, where we are more likely to buy children electronic devices and allow them in their bedrooms. Today, children are likely to own more toys and gadgets than ever before, yet the Unicef global report on child well-being found that children are not getting happier the more they own, instead, British parents could be trapping their children in a cycle of "compulsive consumerism". As children spend more time online, social media addiction is also becoming a problem - this website offers advice to parents on how to protect their children.

Too much homework?

The debate on whether homework should be scrapped has been an long-standing one. Now, excessive homework is being blamed on the rise of mental health illness in children and young people. A “high-stakes achievement culture” is also being cited amongst the reasons given for a rise in anxiety and depression. This follows on from a recent announcement by Cheltenham Ladies’ College, that it will be carrying out a review on whether to abolish homework. However, when one school in New York decided to scrap homework, parents were not pleased....

And whilst the West has been inspired by the success of Asian education systems, a report by Professor Yong Zhao indicates that Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Shanghai are turning their attention to cultivating “twenty-first century skills” in their children, such as creativity, communication, collaboration and higher order thinking skills; they are also more concerned about student social-emotional and physical health.

Mental Health Awareness Week

It is Mental Health Awareness week and this year the theme is mindfulness. The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) have once again produced a number of publications including posters and leaflets to support their campaign, including a dedicated page on resources for mindfulness. Resources for topics covered in previous years are available on the MHF website, such as last year's report 'Living With Anxiety', which highlights how prevalent anxiety is in everyday life. 

There is also still time to watch 'A Stranger on the Bridge' - the true story of Jonny Benjamin; suffering from mental health issues, his attempted suicide was thwarted by a stranger who stopped him from jumping off Waterloo Bridge. The documentary follows his quest to find the person who saved his life.