Mental Health

Mental health is one of the least talked about and most neglected areas of health, particularly among the male population. And yet, most people will suffer with at least one mental health problem throughout their lives.

Mental health problems can range from the normal everyday worries that we all experience from time-to-time, to more serious long-term conditions. If the condition progresses into something more persistent that would require a form of therapy such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy, it can be subdivided into one of two categories: neurotic or psychotic.

Neurotic problems are those classified as severe forms of ‘normal’ emotional experiences such as anxiety, depression or panic. These are referred to as common mental health conditions. More serious and less common are psychotic symptoms which can interfere with your perception of real-life, for example by suffering hallucinations. Mental health problems such as these are NOT personal weaknesses, but something which can be diagnosed by a doctor and helped with treatment.

The National Health Service (NHS) recently promised to transform mental health services by 2020. However there are effective and ineffective ways of doing this. Offering extensive support services that are easily accessible would be hugely beneficial. Giving doctors greater ability to prescribe often dangerous and ineffective antidepressant drugs to patients who may not need them is not an effective way. Sadly there is no quick fix for mental health, however don’t think of it as something that cannot be fixed – it most certainly can. Breaking down social stigma is certainly a good starting point.

Here at the Daily Health we hope to shed some light on how these problems can be tackled – for one, we believe the over-prescription of antidepressant drugs may be part of the problem, coupled with the over diagnosis of what are considered to be childhood behavioural problems, like ADHD. Mental health problems are something we all suffer from every now and again, so spend time going through our extensive archive and learn about effective ways to help you overcome the condition.