Social Determinants of Mental Health
(by WHO)
The prevalence and social distribution of mental disorders has been well documented in high-income countries. While there is growing recognition of the problem in low- and middle-income countries, a significant gap still exists in research to measure the problem, and in strategies, policies and programmes to prevent mental disorders. There is a considerable need to raise the priority given to the prevention of mental disorders and to the promotion of mental health through action on the social determinants of health.
Key facts:
Mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped to a great extent by the social, economic, and physical environments in which people live.
Social inequalities are associated with increased risk of many common mental disorders.
Taking action to improve the conditions of daily life from before birth, during early childhood, at school age, during family building and working ages, and at older ages provides opportunities both to improve population mental health and to reduce the risk of those mental disorders that are associated with social inequalities.
While comprehensive action across the life course is needed, scientific consensus is considerable that giving every child the best possible start will generate the greatest societal and mental health benefits.
Action needs to be universal: across the whole of society, and proportionate to need in order to level the social gradient in health outcomes.
The effective actions to reduce risk of mental disorders should be taken throughout the life course, at the community level and at the country level. It includes environmental, structural, and local interventions. Such actions to prevent mental disorders are likely to promote mental health in the population.
According to APA, low socioeconomic status is a risk factor for mental illness. According to a study that examined a database of 34,000 patients with two or more psychiatric hospitalizations in Massachusetts during 1994-2000, unemployment, poverty and housing unaffordability were correlated with a risk of mental illness. "The poorer one's socioeconomic conditions are, the higher one's risk is for mental disability and psychiatric hospitalization," said author Christopher G. Hudson, Ph.D., of Salem State College. This was found regardless of what economic hardship or type of mental illness the person suffered.
Poverty increases the risk of mental health problems and can be both a causal factor and a consequence of mental ill health. Mental health is shaped by the wide-ranging characteristics (including inequalities) of the social, economic and physical environments in which people live. Successfully supporting the mental health and wellbeing of people living in poverty, and reducing the number of people with mental health problems experiencing poverty, require engagement with this complexity.