The focus for mental health week
The focus for mental health awareness week is body image. Body image is strongly linked to mental health issues. 30% of people surveyed apparently have insecurities about their body image. This is not just something that affects girls and young people, but every culture, gender and religion. We live in a society heavily focused on what people look like and celebrity culture, where physical appearance can be valued much more than what is inside people. This is so easily preventable. Mental health issues associated with body image are most prevalent in cultures that value appearance and celebrity, like ours. As a parent of a young child, the growing insecurities and need for physical perfection amongst people frighten me.
Another area that we need to have more open discussions about is the high percentage of male suicide. Almost two-thirds of suicides in the world are committed by men. In the UK, men are 3 times as likely to take their own lives as women and the highest suicide rate was for men aged 45-49. This figure has been decreasing, but it is still the biggest killer of men under the age of 45, which is a shocking statistic. Male suicide methods are often more violent than attempts by women, meaning it is often too late to intervene. We need to look more closely about cultural expectations of the male gender and continue to have these discussions about mental health to ensure this decline in recent years continues.
