CONTENT WARNING: Mention of suicide
Tackling poverty and economic equality is crucial to safeguarding both mental and physical health. A
report by Centre for Mental Health outlines the direct causal link between both relative and absolute poverty and mental health. We support the Centre for Mental Health’s vital call for our government, local councils, health services and business to do what they can to end poverty and ensure a mentally healthier society for all. Action needs to be taken now, especially with the rise in living costs, to reduce mental health inequalities.
Key findings in the report shows that in increased areas of poverty and deprivation in the UK, serious mental illness and suicide worsen. This is also intersected by other disadvantages such as those caused by structural racism.
Windsor-Shellard (2020),
found that suicide rates among middle aged people are more than double in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived.
Men in deprived areas are 51% more likely to experience depression than those in non-deprived areas (Remes et al, 2019) and
children from the poorest 20% of households are four times as likely to have serious mental health difficulties by the age of 11 as those from the wealthiest 20% (Gutman et al., 2015).
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The World Health Organisation states that the main health factors influencing health incomes are: social determinants (i.e., poverty and discrimination), environmental factors (i.e., air quality and housing), individual factors (i.e., genetic predisposition and behaviour), and access to health care. Therefore, it is vital that governmental changes are made at both a local and national level to end poverty and therefore, protect mental health.
At MHFA England, we understand that mental health is intersectional and therefore, the multiple layers of disadvantage and discrimination that an individual can experience across all social categories should be considered. We are dedicated to taking an inclusive approach to mental health to help guide a healthier culture where people can be their whole self at work.
Read the full report here:
Briefing 58: Poverty, economic inequality and mental health
Explore our mental health training for workplaces here
Sources:
Windsor-Shellard, B. (2020) How does living in a more deprived area influence rates of suicide?
Remes, O., Lafortune, L., Wainwright, N., et al. (2019) Association between area deprivation and major depressive disorder in British men and women: a cohort study.
Gutman, L., Joshi, H., Parsonage, M., & Schoon, I. (2015). Children of the new century: Mental health findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. London: Centre for Mental Health.
