Mental health should have same priority as physical health
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《英国医生杂志》
Staying mentally well should be given the same priority by NHS policymakers as keeping physically fit, says an independent think tank based in the United kingdom, the Institute for Public Policy Research. In a report published this week, the institute set out its vision of what mental health services should look like in 2025. It suggests that by then, people with mental health problems will have access to local drop-in services and that public stigma around mental health will have declined. In addition, every neighbourhood will have access workers, based in locations such as community health centres, libraries, and GPs?surgeries, who would offer people a fast route into specialist services, with access to psychological treatments and drugs.
To achieve these aims, policies are needed to maintain good mental health rather than just treating acute mental illness, argues the report. It suggests that policies should focus less on developing measures to protect the public from a small number of dangerous mentally ill people and what it considers to be the overuse of expensive drugs for common mental health problems. Instead, there should be greater emphasis on providing effective services for people with common problems, such as depression and anxiety, and helping to keep people mentally well.
Jennifer Rankin, a researcher at the institute and author of the report, said, "There has been real progress in government approaches and public attitudes to mental issues, such as depression. However, mental health services have not kept pace with demand or improved as much as the rest of the NHS. They remain concentrated on a small group of people who are acutely unwell. This does not adequately help all those with long term mental health problems or people with more common experiences of depression and anxiety. The health system should better promote the mental health of the whole community."
In 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that mental health problems accounted for 43% of all years lived with a disability. And a recent report showed that the most common reason for claiming incapacity benefit is now depression (BMJ 2005;330:802-3, 9 Apr). Ten years ago, it was back pain.
Cliff Prior, chief executive of the mental health charity Rethink, which supports the report, said, "For too long, mental health has been neglected and stigmatised, or overlooked by policy makers without a specialist interest. There are several promising signs of improvement. Nevertheless, delivering a mentally healthy society requires a step change in levels of leadership and commitment: from central government, local government, employers, schools, and the voluntary sector. If people make this change, the rewards will be great indeed."(Zosia Kmietowicz)
To achieve these aims, policies are needed to maintain good mental health rather than just treating acute mental illness, argues the report. It suggests that policies should focus less on developing measures to protect the public from a small number of dangerous mentally ill people and what it considers to be the overuse of expensive drugs for common mental health problems. Instead, there should be greater emphasis on providing effective services for people with common problems, such as depression and anxiety, and helping to keep people mentally well.
Jennifer Rankin, a researcher at the institute and author of the report, said, "There has been real progress in government approaches and public attitudes to mental issues, such as depression. However, mental health services have not kept pace with demand or improved as much as the rest of the NHS. They remain concentrated on a small group of people who are acutely unwell. This does not adequately help all those with long term mental health problems or people with more common experiences of depression and anxiety. The health system should better promote the mental health of the whole community."
In 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that mental health problems accounted for 43% of all years lived with a disability. And a recent report showed that the most common reason for claiming incapacity benefit is now depression (BMJ 2005;330:802-3, 9 Apr). Ten years ago, it was back pain.
Cliff Prior, chief executive of the mental health charity Rethink, which supports the report, said, "For too long, mental health has been neglected and stigmatised, or overlooked by policy makers without a specialist interest. There are several promising signs of improvement. Nevertheless, delivering a mentally healthy society requires a step change in levels of leadership and commitment: from central government, local government, employers, schools, and the voluntary sector. If people make this change, the rewards will be great indeed."(Zosia Kmietowicz)