Poor mental health not only affects a person’s ability to live a fulfilling life and carry on with their

school,
work, or familial responsibilities; it also can lead to physical and social problems with serious impacts. By
advocating for prevention and developing effective interventions, public health professionals help individuals
and communities combat mental health issues.
Mental Health as a Public Health Issue
Public health aims to promote healthy lifestyles, as well as to detect, prevent, and respond to diseases. The
prevalence of mental health issues that affect individuals’ physical and social well-being makes dealing with
mental health integral to achieving public health goals.
To begin with, mental health has a huge impact on how people relate to others, make decisions, and handle
stress. People’s ability to live fulfilling lives often depends on their mental health. This makes protecting and
restoring mental health of immediate concern to public health professionals.
Poor mental health influences people’s relationships with their children, spouses, relatives, friends, and co-
workers. Often, poor mental health leads to problems such as social isolation, which disrupts a person’s
communication and interactions with others. This can have particularly harmful effects on children and
adolescents whose development depends on forming bonds with their family members and peers. In adulthood,
this social isolation can lead to family breakdown, divorce, or even childhood neglect.
Mental health problems frequently put financial and emotional strain on families. For example, a family trying
to address a child’s mental illness may exhaust untold funds in search of treatment. Individual family members
may also struggle to cope with their own symptoms that require support, such as depression or sleeping
problems.
Children who have family members experiencing mental health problems may blame themselves. This can
result in loneliness and feelings of being different. It may also lead to future behavioral or social problems.
Additionally, as families address their loved ones’ mental health problems, they may socially isolate out of fear
of judgment from others, further disrupting their emotional well-being.
Marginalized communities consistently experience worse mental health than other communities for preventable
reasons. Racial, gender, and sexual minorities, as well as people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, often
find themselves particularly hard hit by mental health issues.

Poor Access to Mental Health Care Services

Marginalized communities face many barriers to receiving needed mental health care. For one, individuals from
these communities are overrepresented in jobs that do not provide health insurance. Without health insurance,
few can afford any type of mental health care service.
Historically, people from marginalized backgrounds with insurance have encountered discrimination when
receiving care or disparate treatment. For instance, Black individuals are offered medication and therapy for
their mental health issues at lower rates than the general population, according to the American Psychiatric
Association.
A lack of cultural competency among mental health care providers can diminish the quality-of-care
marginalized individuals receive as well. According to Mental Health America, the fact that less than 2 percent
of American Psychological Association members are Black makes it especially difficult for Black individuals to
receive culturally competent care. Organizations that influence treatment approaches need more reflective
representation within their ranks to expand marginalized communities’ access to mental health care.
Therapeutic relationships depend on understanding and comfort. A lack of diverse representation in the mental
health field can limit both and makes it harder for mental health professionals to understand their patients’
identities and address them openly.
Finally, language barriers and implicit bias can interfere with access to mental health services, resulting in
individuals giving up on treatment or not recovering completely. Additionally, many marginalized people have
fewer mental health professionals in their communities, which can pose challenges to accessing care as well.
Cultural Stigmas and Negative Perceptions About Mental Illness
Cultural stigmas and negative perceptions about mental illness can discourage individuals from getting help.
Attitudes about mental health issues vary among different communities. Both religious ideas and cultural
perceptions can shape how people feel about getting mental health care.
Sometimes these ideas and perceptions stigmatize mental illness, which can prevent people from seeking
treatment for themselves or loved ones. In some cases, communities may discourage men from showing any
signs of weakness. This can result in reticence among men to seek needed mental health treatments.
Understanding different cultural perceptions about mental health is key to developing culturally sensitive
programs and services accessible to members of all communities.
Public health professionals play a key role in tackling the factors that adversely influence mental health.
Addressing a community’s well-being requires a comprehensive approach. To promote mental health, public
health professionals find ways to prevent mental disorders, improve access to mental health services, support
recovery, and lower the rate of death, disease, and disability among those with mental illnesses. They also work
to increase awareness of mental health issues and reduce stigmas, so people can get the treatment they need.
Finally, they strive to eliminate health disparities and provide equitable access to health services.

Mental health problems are common, affecting thousands of us in the UK. Despite this, there is still a
strong stigma (negative attitude) around mental health. People with mental health problems can also
experience discrimination (negative treatment) in all aspects of their lives.

This stigma and discrimination make many people’s problems worse. It can come from society,
employers, the media, and even our own friends and family. You may even experience internalized stigma,
where you come to believe the negative messages or stereotypes about yourself.

Stigma and discrimination can also make someone’s mental health problems worse, and delay or stop them
getting help. Social isolation, poor housing, unemployment and poverty are all linked to mental ill health.
So, stigma and discrimination can trap people in a cycle of illness.

You may face more than one type of stigma: for example, you may also be stigmatized because of your
race, gender, sexuality or disability. This can make life even harder.

When people hear the term healthy, they usually focus on physical connotations, such as low cholesterol levels,
good cardiovascular strength and the absence of disease. Unfortunately, countless people suffer from mental
health problems that are just as debilitating as some of the worst physical ailments. With professional help from
mental health services, most of these people enjoy improved life quality. For many, however, help never comes,
because they either fail to seek it or lack appropriate access.

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), approximately one in five Americans
experiences some type of mental illness each year. What’s more, about 10 percent experience serious mental
illness that significantly interferes with one or more major life activities.
From schizophrenia to bipolar disorder, there are a number of serious mental health disorders that can make
day-to-day living almost impossible. At the same time, countless Americans also live with addiction, depression
and anxiety disorder. In fact, the NAMI estimates that, each year, over 18 percent of the U.S. population
experiences obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder or specific phobias. NAMI statistics
also reveal that over 20 million Americans have a substance use disorder, with over half of these people also
experiencing co-occurring mental illness.

Consequences of Lack of Treatment

Mental health issues can make life unbearable for the people who have them. At the same time, these problems
can have a wider effect on society as a whole, especially when they go untreated or treatment is delayed. 
When allowed to intervene in a timely manner, mental health services can help lower health costs and free up
limited resources. Studies indicate that people use medical services 90 percent less frequently after receiving
appropriate mental health care. Mental health services also reduce the risk of chronic diseases related to stress,
anxiety and substance abuse.
Most importantly, mental health services save lives, while improving the outlook for people who may feel
hopeless and lost. If you believe you may be suffering from a mental illness or if you know someone who is,
take positive steps toward recovery by contacting a mental health professional today.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/a-z-topics/stigma-and-discrimination