Mental disorders can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time. In fact, one in four people experience a mental health disorder during their lifetime. Mental disorders affect the way people think, feel and behave and can bring about intense distress. They can impact employment, relationships and can even be life threatening.

A number of pharmacological and psychosocial interventions exist for the treatment of mental disorders, however many individuals are not able to access the care or services that they may require. Stigma and discrimination, lack of human and financial resources and poor mental health literacy are some of the reasons why people don’t get the help and support they need. It is imperative that we all work to enhance the availability of mental health services and improve the quality of life of people with mental disorders across the world .

This blog serves as a platform by which to share our thoughts on global mental health. Through this blog, we hope to communicate information pertinent to global mental health in a way that is accessible to as many people as possible. This blog is intended to form one small piece of a vast puzzle: the final picture of which is the promotion of mental health as a global agenda.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Summarising the Lancet Series for Global Mental Health (Aiysha)


2007 saw the publication of the first Lancet Series on Global Mental Health, highlighting the urgent need for scaling up services for mental health all over the world: http://www.thelancet.com/series/global-mental-health

2011 saw the follow-up to this series, drawing our attention to the progress that had been made since the call for action in 2007, and future steps: http://www.thelancet.com/series/global-mental-health-2011

Following, is a representation summarising the premise, outcomes and next-steps from both series.


Treatment Gaps for mental health are BIG: In some countries, up to 9 out of 10 individuals with mental health difficulties are not receiving basic care:






Unfortunately, there are some unhelpful common assumptions as to why this treatment gap might exist:




So, what are some of the barriers for global mental health?



































What progress has been made since the publication of the 2007 Lancet series?



For more information, see:

mhGAP: http://www.who.int/mental_health/mhgap/en/
Movement for Global Mental Health: http://www.globalmentalhealth.org/
Grand Challenges for Global Mental Health: http://grandchallengesgmh.nimh.nih.gov/





What next? 

The global issue of human rights abuses of individuals with mental health difficulties must be addressed





And? 

Much more research must be conducted: how to deliver effective evidence-based treatments; how to address mental health and poverty...and so on... 









Finally? 

Resources must still be increased in order to scale-up care








And so the push to make mental health a global agenda continues...








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