When I relocated from Hong Kong to the UK in Spring 2023, I almost immediately started maternity leave with my second child. This natural pause in my working life gave me the chance to reflect on my work in the mental health field so far. As I planned my return to work, with the help of these reflections (and a little bit more sleep!), I started to think about how I could use my experiences to shape my work in the UK.
My work has brought me into contact with hundreds of different people going through a range of different life experiences, helping me to learn a lot about how people behave when they are going through periods of poor mental health. In my conversations with my individual clients, my experiences delivering training and my time working with the wonderful team at Mind HK to implement different mental health projects, the thing I was most struck by is this:
People very rarely get mental health support when they need it.
The gap between people who need mental health support and people who get it is is known as the mental health treatment gap. There are a range of factors that determine how big this gap is, ranging from service availability and accessibility to cultural traditions and the stigma around experiencing mental health problems and seeking help for them. Most of these factors are complicated, multi-faceted and at times, can seem overwhelming. When hearing about the mental health treatment gap in different countries, it seems like there is still a lot of work to do. The most recent available data suggests that only 1 in 3 people who are experiencing a mental health problem in the UK get support. In Hong Kong, the most recent available data suggests a number closer to 1 in 4. Both of these surveys are now 10 years old, so we would hope that the numbers have improved. However, in the context of continuing social/economic/political stresses and the chronic under-funding of mental health services in the public sector, it is likely that there is still a significant mental health treatment gap today.
Opportunities to bridge the mental health gap
So this is where we find ourselves. It can seem like a bleak picture! But with any challenge, there are opportunities. As individuals, we each have a part to play in the landscape of mental health. A couple of things became apparent through my work with clients and when conducting training sessions for the public on mental health:
The level of knowledge about mental health (also known as mental health literacy) in the general public is low
There are lots of misconceptions about mental health problems and seeking help for them.
I got to see how powerful it could be to share information about mental health in different settings. Whether via workshops, awareness raising campaigns or accessing mental health treatment, people would learn things like:
Mental health problems are common | Mental health problems are treatable |
We all have mental health | By talking about mental health and what to do when it gets worse, we can reduce the mental health treatment gap |
Of course, lots of people know this stuff already. But for people who don't, it's hard to understate the impact it can have when someone gets access to this information. Perhaps someone who has been crippled by social anxiety - feeling completely ashamed because it felt like they were the only person in the world who ever felt this way - gets to learn that what they are experiencing is common and treatable. This may have be the push they need to go and speak to a professional and get some help. Or for someone else, learning that depression is associated with physical symptoms helps them to recognise that the insomnia and headaches their spouse has been struggling with for months might be mood-related. This prompts them to have a conversation with their spouse about the symptoms leading to them accessing more information, thus speeding up the process of getting the help they need.
I can think of countless examples of times when just learning new information about mental health has helped someone to feel less ashamed, less alone and more able to seek help. This brings me back to my reasons for starting this series:
Through my work, I want help as many people as I can to bridge the mental health treatment gap
I hope to do this by sharing information, busting myths and targeting what I know to be some of the factors that fuel misconceptions, stigma and shame around mental health.
In this series, I'll be drawing on what I've learned about of one of the key factors that can delay people reaching out for help with their mental health: Myths and misconceptions about psychological therapy. My hope is that this series will reach someone who is contemplating getting some help and get them over one of the hurdles that can stand in the way.
Do you know someone who needs to hear this? Share this series with them to get them thinking about taking that important first step to better mental health today.
Some fantastic resources for information about mental health and seeking help:
Mind's Mental Health A-Z
Rethink - about mental health problems
Mind Hong Kong's Mental Health A-Z
Mind HK: Seeking help in Hong Kong
Mental Health Foundation: Stigma and discrimination
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