Mental health care
Just a few weeks ago, in February 2024, the British Medical Association, BMA, published a report deploring the inadequate mental healthcare system [0].
The BMA carried out in-depth interviews with doctors across the mental health system, including those working in psychiatry, general practice, emergency medicine, and public health.
The report, “It’s broken” Doctors’ experiences on the frontline of a failing mental healthcare system", based on first-hand accounts of doctors working across the NHS, reveals a ‘broken’ system of mental health services in England. The current economic cost of mental ill health has been estimated to be over £100 billion in England alone*, but this report demonstrates that across the NHS, doctors are in an ongoing struggle to give patients the care they need because the funding is just not enough, there are not enough staff, and the infrastructure and systems are not fit for purpose.
https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/new-bma-report-highlights-broken-mental-health-system
Improved access to mental health support improves addresses, poor relationship between mental health, employability, national prosperity and education.
Prioritisation of population health is essential to its prosperity [1]
When the health of a population is poor, it is bad for the individuals affected and it also impacts adversely or national productivity and so our prosperity. Naturally, it increases pressure on an already struggling health service. [1]
It is the tendency to focus policy decisions around health and the treatment of ill health, and on the structure, organisation and funding of healthcare. Yet healthcare is not the primary determinant of health [1]
A good health trajectory begins before birth, and in the early years of life. It depends upon good parental, physical and mental health.[1]
Or good parental, mental health, realise upon education, knowledge, understanding. [ref] there was a correlation between low education and poor health.
[ref] there was a strong correlation between poor mental health and employability.
15% of working-age adults live with a mental disorder. Without effective support, mental disorders and other mental health conditions can affect a person’s confidence and identity at work, capacity to work productively, absences and the ease with which to retain or gain work. Twelve billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety alone. Furthermore, people living with severe mental health conditions are largely excluded from work despite this being important for recovery. [2]
Depression and anxiety cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year predominantly from reduced productivity.[2]
Does the education have to exist in the individual for the individual to benefit or can a smart system provide that knowledge to the individual and so bring about improved health?
Education decreases the probability of having any depression related symptoms by 11.3% and those related to anxiety by 9.8% Additionally, education also reduces the severity of depressive symptoms by 6.1% and anxiety by 5.6% [3]
While, education has many other aspects, availability of information to impart knowledge does form one part of education. Smart devices increase peoples access to information published online; I personally was not aware of anxiety as a mental health illness until after I had access to social media. Greater availability of information gives people the opportunity to understand their symptoms and so access appropriate support. The positive impacts of social media are attributed to increased access to social capital and useful information that present various easy modes of social support in a virtual world [4]
Given the positive correlations between good population health, access to information and knowledge on health, and employment and good mental health. There are good correlations between access to knowledge access to information education and artificial intelligence. Positive combination of the two provides a route to, better health and better quality of life for individuals and greater prosperity as a population.
Reference
[0]
New BMA report highlights ‘broken’ mental health system, 2024;
https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/new-bma-report-highlights-broken-mental-health-system
[4] Social Media–Driven Routes to Positive Mental Health Among Youth: Qualitative Enquiry and Concept Mapping Study, Vainganker et al, 2022; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8933808/
[3] Mental health effects of education, Kondirolli and Sunder, National library of medicine. 2022; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9796491/#:~:text=Education%20decreases%20the%20probability%20of,Table%203%2C%20column%202).&text=Additionally%2C%20education%20also%20reduces%20the,Table%203%2C%20column%204).
[2] Mental Health at Work, World Health Organisation (WHO) from;
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