Mental Health is an illness that people suffer from either psychologically or emotionally, sometimes it can be both. A common misconception about mental health is that people tend to believe that they do not have mental health, however in studies it has shown that everyone has mental health to some sort of extent due to the way we as individuals see ourselves and see others, and other factors such as keeping relationships with people. In the UK alone, mental health death rates have risen to 50%. Statistics show that 615 million people suffer from anxiety or depression, and that 1 in 4 people will have at least one diagnosed mental health problem. Moreover, suicide is the most common cause of death for men aged 20-49 in England and Wales.

However, it has come to light that the government have cut fundings for mental health institutions by millions all around England, specifically at least five religions. Even though at the beginning of this year, Theresa May had stated that she wants to get rid of the taboo and stigma around mental health. It was stated that the Mental Health’s funding was being cut by 4.5%. On the other hand, the subject of mental health has opened up more than ever, especially since Price Harry opened up about suffering of grief with the death of his mother. Furthermore, Kate Middleton spoke out about the issues of mental health with children in which also supported her’s and Prince Williams ‘Heads Together Campaign’ which is a supporting programme for individuals that are able to get help.

With this, some supporters of mental health stated that “it seems like the royal family is doing much more with breaking the stigma around mental health than the government, but as long as people are starting to talk about the taboo subject then people are able to open up more easily.” Another individual Debbie argued that “mental health should be a priority for the government like the other issues in today’s society, it is not acceptable to reduce funds for mental health institutions as people who really need help will start to have no where to go.” This view that the government are not doing as much as they could seems to be a majority, however there are some people who believe that the government have to fund other factors instead of mental health because of others who need it “the government have been trying to fund the mental health institutions for as long as possible but there are still some institutions, the government need to focus on helping charities such as cancer research to try and help find a cure for cancer” which was said by Katie.

Overall, it has been shown that the government have not done enough to help individuals suffering from mental health as the statistics show that mental health and suicide is increasing, an example of this is the suicide rate in Scotland had risen by 8% between 2015-2016 and there has been 728 suicides registered in Scotland in 2016. The fact that the government have reduced cuts in despite of this shows that there needs to some sort of communication in which the government states on how they will improve mental health funds. Due to this, individuals may not want to open up as they may not have a place to go to in their area so they are left with the burden of it as these areas may not afford to keep them open without the funds from the government.

By Sevil Osmanogullari

Eltham Hill School