{"id":1197,"date":"2024-05-27T16:07:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T15:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/?p=1197"},"modified":"2026-01-19T11:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T11:32:20","slug":"mental-health-advocacy-promoting-awareness-reducing-stigma-and-advocating-for-better-access-to-mental-health-services-and-resources-at-individual-community-and-policy-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/mental-health-advocacy-promoting-awareness-reducing-stigma-and-advocating-for-better-access-to-mental-health-services-and-resources-at-individual-community-and-policy-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Advocacy (2026): Promoting awareness, reducing stigma, and advocating for better access to mental health services and resources at individual, community, and policy levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey, Are you okay? Listen it\u2019s okay not to be okay. Let\u2019s talk, let\u2019s vent our emotions. It\u2019s okay to cry when you feel sad, overburdened, or you lose your close people. Mental illness can happen to anyone. It doesn\u2019t know to discriminate between males and females. So even men can also have crying spells, low mood or suffer from mental illness but even society should allow them to ventilate their emotions whenever required otherwise the repressed emotions may come out in more uglier ways. Causes underlying physical illness like diabetes\u00a0 cancer, cerebral stroke and cardiac arrest as well are related to mental health<\/a><\/strong>. We need to keep our mind calm and peaceful to live a happy life. So in one sentence no health without mental health.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"mental<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Myths related to mental\nhealth  <\/strong>\u2022 People\nsuffering from mental illness or mental health condition are violent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • People actually do not have any problems regarding mental health they\nare acting <\/li>
  • There is no proper treatment available for mental health issues <\/li>
  • People or children with intellectual disability are more prone to\nsuffer from mental health condition <\/li>
  • Nobody can help a person with mental illness <\/li>
  • Children cannot suffer from mental health condition <\/li>
  • No psychotherapy or medicines can help prevent mental health\ncondition  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Myths related to mental health\nstop people from seeking help from mental health professionals and that\ndetoriorates the situation of the person suffering from mental health condition\nand his\/her home. Not only adults even children as well as adolescents can have\nmental illness. Also prevention is always better than cure even to treat mental\nhealth condition. When mental illness or a disorder like depression or anxiety\nor any psychotic disorder is diagnosed at an early age it becomes a positive\nprognostic factor , treatment becomes easy and there is a chance of positive\nconsequence for treatment. Thus it is very important to promote awareness\ntowards mental health in schools, colleges, offices and hospital set-ups as\nwell. Availability of n.g.o.s , government hospitals, rehabilitation centre and\ndaycare facilities is important to bring infront of people so that they can\nseek help. Also it is important and beneficial to elaborate the roles of these\nplaces and facilities available like psychological counselling, occupational\ntherapy, medicinal treatment. Often due to deficits in awareness for the\nfacilities available people do not feel comfortable or confident to send their\nfamily members to places where they can cure themselves. Promoting awareness is\nimportant for family members of patients. Also when awareness programmes are\nheld in school and colleges parents of students should also be present to\nunderstand the causes underlying a particular behaviour or the disorder their\nchildren are suffering from. It is important to inform them that suffering from\nmental health condition is not in their hands but treatment procedure is in\ntheir hands so they do not need to suffer silently rather should seek help\nwhich is also their basic right. Parents and other people should also be\ninformed that now that they are coming to know about mental health condition\nand treatment procedures it is also their duty too to spread awareness towards\nmental health in society which would be helpful and beneficial for other\npeople. Cases of suicide or other mental illness are reported among school\nchildren as well which may be due to academic pressure, low stress resilience,\nenvironmental pressure, deficits in communication pattern with parents and\nconstant comparison in family.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to\npromote awareness towards mental health? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • It is of utmost importance to\nclear out the myths and facts about mental illness. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      • Speak openly about mental health condition with any mental health\nprofessional without hesitation is important as it is a challenge to stay or\nlive with mental illness. Active listening from the part of the counsellor with\nproper eye contact can also be encouraging for the clients. People should be\nmotivated to speak about their battles confidently explaining their signs and\nsymptoms and emotions which is helpful for prognosis of treatment procedure. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        • Psychoeducation or educating oneself about symptoms of mental health\ncondition can be fruitful. Many people refuse to speak about their mental\nhealth condition as others belittle them. But warning signs are always helpful\nlike feeling low, anger episodes, disturbed sleep patterns, mood swings and\nmany more. Comprehending and teaching people about the causes, symptoms, and\ntreatments available for mental health diseases like depression, anxiety,\nbipolar disorder, and schizophrenia can help people and their families as well\nas friends to deal effectively with mental illness. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          • Screening for mental health condition in schools, colleges offices and\nhospital set-ups can help to identify the people suffering from mental health\ncondition. Screening tools are always beneficial for treatment procedure as\nwell. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            • Volunteer involvement in awareness programmes can be helpful too.\nAwareness programmes should happen in educational institutions and other\nworkplaces to alert people. Also students often remain under tremendous\npressure due to their academics, peer pressure, family pressure and other\nreasons as well. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              • Awareness programmes should be held in towns and villages on days like\nworld schizophrenia day where people from grassroot level can attend and gain\nknowledge about different mental disorders. They can come to know about the\nsymptoms which will be helpful for them to seek help soon without letting the\nsituation become worse or without letting the disease progress. They should be\ninformed about organic diseases , epilepsy and treatment procedures as well as\ntheir availability. Also they should come to know about mind body relationship.\nAwareness programmes should be held in comprehensive languages which would make\npeople feel interested to attend. Slide shows with diagrams are also helpful. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                Basically the cases of\nmental illness are rising high in India and other parts of the world. WHO\nestimates that the burden of mental health problems in India is 2443\ndisability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per 100 00 population; the ageadjusted\nsuicide rate per 100 000 population is 21.1. In India mental health issues\nstill remain hidden even among educated people as well. Poverty, unemployment,\ndeficits in proper knowledge about mental health, lack of family planning, high\nilleteracy rate are some of the major causes behind mental health condition.\nPeople feel burdened, shameful to speak about their mental illness. They often\ndevelop guilt feeling towards mental health condition. Also in a patriarchal\nsociety like India mother\u2019s are blamed for the mental health condition of the\nchildren specially when the underlying cause is genetics. People do not focus\non solution while dealing with mental health rather the disturbed home\nenvironment worsens the situation.Often their family members blame them for the\ncondition for which they are not responsible and constant critical comments\nmake them feel depressed, dejected and rejected in their own house which is\nconsidered to be the most comfort zone for people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                Stigma<\/strong> is a negative view about a person who\nhas or is suffering from mental health condition. The person\u2019s behaviour may be\ndifferent from others and may not be according to the norms of the society.\nPeople view them differently and isolate too thinking their different behaviour\ncan impact the other people too or can have a negative impact on them which is\nnot true. Stigma is attached with mental health and old age too. Often people\nfeel that old people are a burden to society specially due to financial crises.\nSociety feels after 60 people cannot work they should retire and sit ideally at\nhome as they are not physically fit enough to work and earn whereas the reality\nmay be different. Stigma also leads to discrimination. People suffering from mental\nillness as well as old people are often neglected in society by neighbours and\ntheir families too. Infact families of mentally ill people have to tolerate\npain or feelings of isolation in the society due to lack of awareness. It\nbecomes difficult to lead life peacefully with a mentally ill person which\ndetoriorates the home environment for the other members as well. It is high\ntime we should stop stigma towards mental health so that nobody has to tolerate\nrejection in the society. Stigma is related with age, skin colour, race ,\ncaste, body size, level of income, educational level and sexual orientation too\nwhich leads to poor body image , low self esteem, reduced confidence and other\nmental health condition.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                How can we reduce stigma? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                • To reduce stigma first and foremost people have to stop feeling\nshameful for their condition and seek proper treatment to improve their\ncondition. Also they should join groups with those people who have similar\nexperiences like them to gain empathy , confidence and social support. Social\nsupport is extremely important to deal with stigma, trauma, grief and other\nmental illness as well. They should also actively participate in awareness\nprogrammes for mental health condition after taking help from mental health\nprofessionals instead of anyone else.  <\/li>
                • Also stigma is always not a result of behaviour of others. It also\nhappens due to self doubt and shame when people feel or consider themselves\nresponsible for their weakness or conditions. They may also only focus on\nproblems and faults within themselves which is detrimental to their health.\nRather they should seek for counseling where they can find solutions to their\nproblems. Their self esteem, self confidence can increase to. There can be a\nchange in their Cognitive errors which was effecting their behaviour. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                  • People should not isolate themselves from the society and family.\nRather they should share their problems with those whom they trust so that they\ncan get support and love. It may help them to seek treatment to bring positive\nchanges in their behaviour. Also instead of saying \u2018I am schizophrenic people\nshould be encouraged to say I have schizophrenia which is treatable as well \u2018.\nIt is important not to equalise oneself with his\/her mental illness. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                    • After getting treatment from mental health professionals people should\nalso join those groups who often conduct awareness programmes and are attached\nwith work related to mental health. People can continuously get help from them\nwhich may boost their self esteem and confidence. Also it results in positive\nresult too. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                      • Children suffering from mental illness can face discrimination from\ntheir friends and teachers as well. Thus here lies the role of school\ncounsellors who should provide awareness programmes for mental health to\nteachers to identify children and send it refer them to school counsellors for\ntreatment procedure is which would be beneficial for the children. Regularity\nin coordination among school counsellors and teachers is important to save\nchildren from stigma and discrimination. It also results in positive result\nafter treatment starts. School teachers and school counsellors should also\ninvolve parents of every child even if their kids are not suffering from mental\nillness to spread awareness among them. Schools should also appoint special\neducators to help special children.  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                        • People should also speak confidently against stigma and in favour of\nmental health condition in events, programmes, letters and newspaper along with\ninternet too which can be helpful to spread awareness and instil courage in\nothers facing challenges along with difficult situations due to their mental\nhealth condition.  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                          Mental health services\nshould always be accessible to people at individual level  community level and policy level too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          Mental health includes\nemotional health, cognitive health and sustaining relationships in family and\nfriend circle. To improve access in Mental health advocates or mental health\nprofessionals have to cross barriers like stigma, financial crises, deficits in\nawareness, racial barriers and gaps in education about mental health. Mental\nhealth advocates or mental health professionals speak about mental health\ncondition to help those who are struggling with mental illness. They can serve\npeople by sharing blogs or writing in articles real life stories which reveal\ntreatment procedure is available for mental health and it is curable too like\nphysical illness. Nowadays through social media too spreading awareness is also\npossible. Individuals can seek help with mental health professional and\norganizations working with mental health through social media too.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          In community level\nvolunteers should raise awareness in the community about mental health and\nidentify people who are suffering from mental illness to give them treatment\nfacilities and bring positive changes in their behaviour which will give relief\nto their families as well. The WHO \u201cGuidance on community mental health\nservices: promoting person-centred and rightsbased approaches\u201d, released in\nJune 2021, provides examples of communitybased mental health care that is both\nrespectful of human rights and focused on recovery like Atmiyata, India, CAPS,\nBrazil , Tupu Ake, New Zealand and\nmany more centres where psychological counseling and psychological assessments\nare available along with facilities of medicine too. The goal of community\nmental health services  includes\nmaintaining family relationships, communicating with friends, taking an active\nparticipation in society , performing age- appropriately in occupation as well.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          The vision of the National Mental Health Policy\nis to promote mental health, prevent mental illness, enable recovery from\nmental illness, promote destigmatization and desegregation, and ensure\nsocio-economic inclusion of persons affected by mental illness by providing\naccessible, affordable and quality health . Nowadays district mental health\nprogramme is also available which recruits mental health professionals for\ndifferent districts who work in villages, towns to help people deal with mental\nhealth condition. Also these programmes should be continuous and sufficient\nnumber of psychologists or psychological counsellors should be available to\nconduct the programmes. Treatment in hospitals in villages and towns should\nalso provide free treatment which will not let people think about their\nfinancial condition which is a barrier. People should get proper education in\ndetails about treatment procedures and their availability in hospitals. There\nshould be courses available to train students of psychology to deal with mental\nhealth condition at district level and community level as well.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                          Hey, Are you okay? Listen it\u2019s okay not to be okay. Let\u2019s talk, let\u2019s vent our emotions. It\u2019s okay to cry when you feel sad, overburdened, or you lose your close people. Mental illness can happen to anyone. It doesn\u2019t know to discriminate between males and females. So even men can also have crying spells, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[153],"class_list":["post-1197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mental-health","tag-mental-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1197"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1252,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1197\/revisions\/1252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindyog.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}