Global Mental Health Movement

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Taking this global health movement and incorporating its benefits into communities would allow for the service to be utilised by a larger group of individuals needing the services and could also allow for prevention measures to be put into place (Prince, 2008). This way, by educating communities regarding metal health, what is means and how it affects the individual, the stigma attached to mental health could decrease significantly. This would allow for a more supportive environment for the mentally disabled living in those communities (Campbell & Burgess, 2012). With the lack of knowledge around mental health in South Africa, there are often misconceptions and hostile attitudes towards mental illnesses and those with mental disabilities. …show more content…

By creating awareness and educating individuals on the various mental disorders would allow for individuals to be aware of their mental health or pick up possible signs they might present (Prince, 2008).
Promotion of mental health as part of the global mental health movement would allow for mental health to be seen as important and education on mental illness would be necessary in healthcare institutions amongst others (Prince, 2008). As stated before, the lack of knowledge surrounding mental health in South Africa increases the risk of mental disorders and also increases the stigma around mental illness which in turn causes more individuals to refrain from seeking assistance.
The global mental health movement has been under scrutiny and faced critique of a variety of scholars; in this portion of the essay 3 arguments against the global mental health movement will be …show more content…

This critique is mostly valid and this is evidenced by that fact that many public health approaches are looking at an upstream approach to health (Williams, Costa, Odunlami & Mohammed, 2008). This approach is taken by many Universities such as Harvard and Cambridge and released an article stating and emphasising the need for leaders across society to improve the underlying i.e. social determinants/upstream causative factors which impacts the health of populations (Williams, Costa, Odunlami & Mohammed, 2008). Hence, this critique is valid from a sociology and public health point of view for the global mental health movement to review their aims and contrast it to this particular critique. In the South African context, it would be of great importance to take into consideration the causative factors and context of the individuals displaying possible symptoms. This way, further preventative measure can be put into

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