Women and Mental Health: Awareness and proactiveness is Key

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being whereby individuals recognize their abilities, are able to cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their communities. It is about enhancing competencies of individuals and communities and enabling them to achieve their self-determined goals”. (Source: Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence (2003: 7): “Investing in Mental Health, Geneva, Switzerland) Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health issues for women are significantly higher as compared to those for men. According to the WHO Regional Office for Europe (2002), overall rates are 33.2% versus 21.7%. Today, about 450 million people suffer from a mental or behavioural disorder. According to WHO’s Global Burden of Disease 2001, 33% of the years lived with disability (YLD) are due to neuropsychiatric disorders, a further 2.1% to intentional injuries Unipolar depressive disorders alone lead to 12.15% of years lived with disability, and rank as the third leading contributor to the global burden of diseases. Four of the six leading causes of years lived with disability are due to neuropsychiatric disorders (depression, alcohol-use disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). (Source: Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence (2003: 8): “Investing in Mental Health, Geneva, Switzerland) The World Health Report (WHO, 1998) states categorically that: Women’s health is inextricably linked to their status in society. It benefits from equality, and suffers from discrimination. Today, the status and wellbeing of countless millions of women worldwide remain tragically low. As a result, human well-being suffers, and the prospects for future generations are dimmer. A lot of traumatic events have been happening in our societies and women have largely been the fatal causalities. We may wonder what was their state of mental health that led them to find themselves in compromising situationships and stay in those situations to the point where they lost their lives. Mental health is very important for women to be aware of and take the best steps they can to take care of theirs and those of their families as a natural follow up... Women may suffer more from mental health challenges because; 1) They are heavy burden bearers; 2) They are at high risk of depression 3) Of trauma, violence, and abuse 4) Of disaster planning and response 5) Of High level of dependency on men WAYS TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH In order for women to take care of their mental wellbeing, the following could be done: Getting professional help if you need it Connecting with others Staying positive Getting physically active Helping others Getting enough sleep Developing coping skills Self empowerment