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Mental illness is the number one leading cause of disability in the world. Mental illness costs the Canadian economy a staggering $51-billion a year, and each day 500,000 people will miss work due to mental health problems.
Mental illness can affect anybody, regardless of age, gender, culture, ethnicity, or social class. But no matter who they are, people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness are all likely to experience stigma: public attitudes and beliefs, often based on fear and misunderstanding, stereotype individuals with mental illness, exposing them to prejudice and discrimination. Stigma infects every issue surrounding mental illness, often with worse consequences than the illness itself. In 2001, the World Health Organization declared stigma to be the “single most important barrier to overcome in the community.”
An understanding of mental health promotion requires a clear concept of mental health. Key components of mental health generally include the capacity to: enjoy life, use abilities and achieve goals, contribute to community, deal with life’s inevitable challenges and bounce back from adversity and form and sustain relationships with others.
Because mental health is more than the absence of mental illness, a person can have a mental illness but still experience mental well-being (for example, attending college and enjoying reciprocal relationships). On the other hand, a person can be free of a diagnosed mental illness, but still experiencing mental distress (for example, struggling to cope with a difficult life situation).
Mental health promotion refers to the actions taken to strengthen mental health. It applies to all people - specific groups as well as the general population. It:
- Enhances capacity to take control of life and health. Mental health promotion can help people take charge of circumstances that affect their mental health, and participate in decisions about their life and health.
- Promotes resiliency. Mental health promotion helps people bounce back from life’s difficulties by enhancing protective factors, reducing inequities and ameliorating risk factors for poor mental health.
- Relies on intersectoral linkages. Mental health promotion requires linked policies and programs in government and business sectors including health, education, labour, justice, environment, finance, and housing, as well as prevention and treatment of illness.
- Takes a positive perspective. Mental health promotion is asset rather than deficit based. It is constructed on a foundation of empowerment, helping people and communities to recognize their strengths and determine their own destinies. And it provides resources to enable this empowerment in a supportive environment.
CMHA is excited to be endorsing this growing new health ‘ecosystem’. We believe that empowering consumers to more effectively manage their own health will result in greater consumer engagement and better care management. TELUS health space is an innovation that can promote new approaches to mental wellness by helping Canadians take an active role in managing their own health and living healthier lifestyles.
We believe that this security enhanced platform will enable the creation of a new generation of mental health information, diagnostic and treatment follow-up tools. These tools will help educate consumers and the general public, as well as screen and manage mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder -- illnesses that affect hundreds of thousands of individual Canadians each year.
These tools will also empower the patients to better understand and manage their condition and provide tighter linkage to the treating physician which will have a positive impact on patient outcomes and our healthcare system in general. We look forward to supporting other application developers who will be building mental health applications on TELUS health space in the near future.
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), founded in 1918, is one of the oldest voluntary organizations in Canada. Each year, we provides direct service to more than 100,000 Canadians through the combined efforts of more than 10,000 volunteers and staff across Canada in over 135 communities. As a nation-wide voluntary organization, the Canadian Mental Health Association promotes the mental health of all Canadians and supports the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness. CMHA accomplishes this mission through advocacy, education, research, and service delivery. For further information, please visit www.cmha.ca.
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