scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity to make mental health a higher public health priority

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javed Latoo ◽  
Peter M. Haddad ◽  
Minal Mistry ◽  
Ovais Wadoo ◽  
Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Priority ◽  
Health Priority ◽  
To Come

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first recognised in December 2019. The subsequent pandemic has caused 4.3 million deaths and affected the lives of billions. It has increased psychosocial risk factors for mental illness including fear, social isolation and financial insecurity and is likely to lead to an economic recession. COVID-19 is associated with a high rate of neuropsychiatric sequelae. The long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health remain uncertain but could be marked, with some predicting an increased demand for psychiatric services for years to come. COVID-19 has turned a spotlight on mental health for politicians, policy makers and the public and provides an opportunity to make mental health a higher public health priority. We review longstanding reasons for prioritising mental health and the urgency brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight strategies to improve mental health and reduce the psychiatric fallout of the pandemic.

Women’s mental health as a public health priority: a call for action

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio A. Silverio
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Women’S Mental Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Priority ◽  
Women's Mental Health ◽  
Health Priority ◽  
Health Narratives ◽  
Health Communities

Purpose This paper aims to call the public health and mental health communities to action by making women’s mental health a public health priority. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper introduces a “Female Psychology” approach to framing and interpreting mental health narratives and public health discourses. It also draws upon lifecourse research as a way of better understanding mental illness. Findings This paper calls for action to prioritise women’s mental health on the public health agenda like has never previously been done before. Research limitations/implications New theoretical bases for research and practice are presented, encouraging the adoption of a “Female Psychology” approach to women’s lifecourses and mental health narratives. Practical implications Suggestions for changes to how we view, diagnose and treat women’s mental health are incorporated, ensuring women’s mental health narratives are placed firmly at the centre of their care and support. Social implications Women’s mental health has long been marginalised and dismissed as exaggerated and/or insignificant, and therefore has not had the economic-, personnel- and time-resource allocated to it, which it so desperately requires. This paper aims to tip the imbalance. Originality/value This paper, though conceptual, offers “Female Psychology” as both a practical and pragmatic approach to improving women’s mental health research, practice, and care. It is the first of its kind to, so directly, call the public health and mental health communities to prioritise women’s mental health.

International Approaches to Perinatal Mental Health Screening as a Public Health Priority

2015 ◽  
pp. 193-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L. Wisner ◽  
Marie-Paule Austin ◽  
Angela Bowen ◽  
Roch Cantwell ◽  
Nine M.-C. Glangeaud-Freudenthal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Screening ◽  
Mental Health Screening ◽  
Perinatal Mental Health ◽  
Public Health Priority ◽  
Health Priority

scholarly journals A Call to Action. A Critical Review of Mental Health Related Anti-stigma Campaigns

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Alexander Benjamin Walsh ◽  
Juliet Louise Hallam Foster
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The Public ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

Using a knowledge-attitudes-behavior practice (KABP) paradigm, professionals have focused on educating the public in biomedical explanations of mental illness. Especially in high-income countries, it is now common for education-based campaigns to also include some form of social contact and to be tailored to key groups. However, and despite over 20 years of high-profile national campaigns (e.g., Time to Change in England; Beyond Blue in Australia), examinations suggest that the public continue to Other those with experiences of mental ill-health. Furthermore, evaluations of anti-stigma programs are found to have weak- to no significant long-term effects, and serious concerns have been raised over their possible unintended consequences. Accordingly, this article critically re-engages with the literature. We evidence that there have been systematic issues in problem conceptualization. Namely, the KABP paradigm does not respond to the multiple forms of knowledge embodied in every life, often outside conscious awareness. Furthermore, we highlight how a singular focus on addressing the public's perceived deficits in professionalized forms of knowledge has sustained public practices which divide between “us” and “them.” In addition, we show that practitioners have not fully appreciated the social processes which Other individuals with experiences of mental illness, nor how these processes motivate the public to maintain distance from those perceived to embody this devalued form of social identity. Lastly, we suggest methodological tools which would allow public health professionals to fully explore these identity-related social processes. Whilst some readers may be frustrated by the lack of clear solutions provided in this paper, given the serious unintended consequences of anti-stigma campaigns, we caution against making simplified statements on how to correct public health campaigns. Instead, this review should be seen as a call to action. We hope that by fully exploring these processes, we can develop new interventions rooted in the ways the public make sense of mental health and illness.

scholarly journals Smoking- or nicotine-free generation, or both? What should be the public health priority?

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 105-108
Author(s):  
Witold A. Zatoński ◽  
Leif E. Aaro ◽  
Oddun Samdal ◽  
Joanna Mazur
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Priority ◽  
Health Priority ◽  
Free Generation
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