Mental Health Prevention and Promotion A Narrative Review

In the Stepped-down approach, the more intensive treatments (in-patient or out-patient based interventions) are followed and supplemented with the BITs to prevent relapse of the mental illness, such as for previously admitted patients with depression or substance use disorders (85, 86). Indicated preventive interventions focus on high-risk individuals who have developed minor but observable signs or symptoms of mental disorder or genetic risk factors for mental illness. The benefits are not restricted to reduction or delay in the onset of illness but also in terms of severity or duration of illness (48).On the spectrum of mental health interventions, universal preventive interventions are directed at the whole population without identifiable risk factors. There is also modest evidence of the effectiveness of programs focusing on early identification and intervention for severe mental diseases (e.g., schizophrenia and psychotic illness, and bipolar affective disorders) as well as common mental disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress-related disorders) (43–46).

• The interventions for mental illness as classified by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders adopted from Mrazek and Haggerty (48).
• Our finding delivers a precise estimate of this causal effect of physical health on mental health, consistent with Olafson et al. (2021) evidence that that worsening physical health due to trauma events or hospitalization leads to higher mental health medication.
• The ICD-10 criteria are similar but emphasize pervasive anxiety not confined to specific situations.
• Peer review information Nature Human Behaviour thanks Pete Harris, Laura Anne Weiss and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Scoping review of preventive interventions for postpartum depression to inform policy and planning

The first is to examine the effect of the statement, “mental illness is like any other medical illness,” on social stigma toward people with mental illness. Although there is little doubt that all medical conditions require psychological attention, mental health interventions focus primarily on achieving a positive change in feeling, self-esteem, mood, perceptions, thoughts and action — all changes in the “self” that are not primarily targeted in the treatment of medical conditions. As a first corollary of this definition, contrary to medical conditions where restoring dysfunctional physiologic mechanisms is the main target of therapeutic interventions, this is only 1 part of the therapeutic interventions for mental disorders. Psychological deprivation and trauma, social defeat and isolation, poverty and poor family environment are but some of the environmental factors that have been reported to increase the risk for mental disorders. Except for mental health complications due to neurologic illnesses (e.g., delirium in the context of severe metabolic complications, depression as a consequence of awareness of the life and death implication of the disorder, abnormal perceptions in the case of some neurologic conditions), it can be stated that somatic illnesses, such as diabetes do not usually alter the core self of a person substantially.

Little is known about the prevalence of and mortality attributed to mental disorders in many low- and middle-income countries due to limited use of representative mental health surveys 16,17•. The reframed agenda proposed by the Lancet Commission attempts to address some of these limitations by expanding the scope GMH from reducing the treatment gap for mental disorders to improving mental health for whole populations and reducing the global burden of mental disorders 7•. Effective approaches include policies and laws that protect mental health, support for caregivers, school-based programmes and improvements to community and online environments. Many people exposed to risk factors never develop a mental health condition, while others may be affected without any known risk. For example, harsh parenting and physical punishment can damage child health and bullying is a leading risk factor for mental health conditions. Social and environmental factors – including poverty, violence, inequality and environmental deprivation – also increase the risk of experiencing mental health conditions.

How Prevention in Psychiatry Differs From Other Medical Disorders

This is an emerging area of research, as evidenced by several important effectiveness trials underway (Alvarez-Jimenez et al. 2019; Aschbrenner et al. 2018a), including efforts to leverage online social networking to support family caregivers of individuals receiving first episode psychosis services (Gleeson et al. 2017). For individuals who openly discuss mental health problems on Twitter, a study by Berry et al. (2017) found that this served as an important opportunity to seek support and to hear about the experiences of others (Berry et al. 2017). In another study of young adults with serious mental illness, most indicated that they used social media to help feel less isolated (Gowen et al. 2012). However, there remains uncertainty regarding the risks and potential harms of social media for mental health (Orben and Przybylski 2019) and how best to weigh these concerns against potential benefits.

Treatment approaches including integrated care and task-shifting have shown promise but are not without their challenges in implementation. Specific fields such as suicide, eating disorders, and personality disorders are underfunded compared to depression and substance use and dependence. Future work is needed to assess national priority setting for refugee rehabilitation, and to address long-term impacts of current conflicts particularly on children and vulnerable populations in the context of a near or complete loss of already scarce health care systems 76–79. Recommendations include implementing family-based strengthening interventions and culturally adapted psychological interventions delivered within existing economic platforms such as youth employment and empowerment programs 74, 75.

Associations of perceived helpfulness of depression treatment modality with symptom severity and substance use disorder

Mental health is clearly influenced by cultural, socioeconomic, and political situations. Such people have the capacity to master their environments, and they have the ability to identify, confront, and solve problems. Three core concepts crucial to enhancing health emerge from the definition of health as per the WHO.

For example, impaired social functioning is a common deficit in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and social media may facilitate communication and interacting with others for these individuals (Torous and Keshavan 2016). Initial studies from SIRC implementation research webinars 2015 found that nearly half of a sample of psychiatric patients were social media users, with greater use among younger individuals (Trefflich et al. 2015), while 47% of inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia reported using social media, of which 79% reported at least once-a-week usage of social media websites (Miller et al. 2015). Social media has become a prominent fixture in the lives of many individuals facing the challenges of mental illness. There are also fruitful benefits seen in physical and mental health, which are positive. The effect of meditation on mental health is not only restricted to minor signs of anxiety but has also been shown to decrease the impact of suicidal thoughts and behavior.