Health: The Connection Between Poverty And Mental Health

Mental health is a broad subject that touches on the psychological, emotional and social well-being of a person and how it affects the way they feel, think or act. Mental health is a fundamental element in the handling of stress, making choices, as well as creating and managing social relationships. Comprehensive understanding of the mental health will be useful in improving healthcare for persons living with mental health problems. According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are about 550 million people globally who live with mental and behavioural disorders which fall under the mental health subject (Kessler, 2010). Scientists and psychologists have realized the possibility of a correlation between poverty and mental health. It is

Poverty is one of the most disadvantaging features to mental illness. Poverty results from variety of inequalities. For instance, unemployment, lack of access to education and low income contribute to poverty (The human face). Income is a person’s main source for support of basic living needs. Consuming nutritional food and clean water, living in a safe housing, affording weather appropriate clothing and personal hygiene are all tied to a person’s level of income. Therefore, one could argue these factors could be connected with a person’s mental health issues. For example, living in an expensive city like Vancouver, individuals suffer from low minimum wage and the high cost of living which may lead to more stress in their

A person with higher education has a better chance of employment and therefore a better income as opposed to someone with a lower education. Therefore, those with lower levels of education are more likely to live below an adequate income level. Thus, this division leads to more stress, worry, depression and more mental illness in those that live in the poverty line. Studies have shown individuals with income and job security have better mental well being (Government of Canada,