Mental health is about how we think, feel and behave. It includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. However, mental illness is an increasing problem faced by many especially in modern day society. 5% of the world’s population or 450 million is the number of people worldwide who suffer from depression.

Depression is a mental health condition where the person suffers from a long lasting low mood and may loose interest in activities they enjoyed before or socially isolate themselves from others. Other examples of mental health condition are anxiety, anorexia nervosa, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and more, just to name a few.

According to the Children’s Society, 10% of children and young people (aged 5-16 years) have a clinically diagnosable health problem, yet 70% of adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficient early age. It goes to show how mental illness can affect anyone at any age.

According to the Children’s Society, 10% of children and young people (aged 5-16 years) have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem, yet 70% of adolescents who experience mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at a sufficient early age. It goes to show how mental illness can affect anyone at any age as well as the fact that there has been an increasing amount of stigma surrounding mental health illness throughout history. Nowadays, we try to avoid outdated and prejudiced words such as insanity, lunacy and madness. These words suggest that people with these problems are out of control although that is not the case. 

To conclude, these are some surprising statistics:

• 1 in 4 will experience a mental health problem in any given year
• We probably all work or know someone experiencing a mental health problem
• 1 in 10 people will experience a mental health problem
• People with a mental health illness are more likely to be a victim of violence
• 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination 
• Nearly three in four young people fear the reactions of friends when they talk about their mental health problems

Angel