Wisely invest in mental health to help economy and save the lives of millions of children
To the governments, local authorities, companies, NGO’s, investment funds:
Specialists, a big body of research and data suggests that millions of children’s lives may be saved with scalable mental health, emotional intelligence and stress management programs. The same goes for the lives of adults and elderly people.
“For every US$ 1 put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of US$ 4 in improved health and productivity.” according to World Health Organization
In short, it seems that the measures during the pandemic are linked to chronic stress or mental health deterioration for many of our children, many of us, many of our elderly people.
It also seems we have a huge opportunity to wisely invest in evidence-based scalable mental health, emotional intelligence and stress management programs, psychological interventions.
We present here a few risks and suggested solutions, backed up by a lot of research, data and specialists opinions. The most important risks we found:
– risk of death or traumatizing of tens of millions of children and adolescents
– risk of reduced productivity in companies and a much slower recovery of economy that may lead to unnecessary loss of jobs and many more associated risks
– risk of extreme poverty for an extra 130 millions of adults and children worldwide
– risk of unnecessary suffering or death for the elderly people
– risk of billions of people being affected by the stress and it’s immunity and health-related effects (directly or indirectly) – stress coming from lockdowns, uncertainty, perceived risks (of loosing jobs for self or for members of family, of illness/death for self or loved ones), different types of media exposure – misinformation/exaggeration of risks and many others stressors related to covid-19
– risk of political extremism and growing distrust in governments, less engagement in politics or to reduce one’s carbon footprint – suggested by research related to the effects of conspiracy theory belief or exposure
– risk of an unnecessary return of the pandemic or lockdown (now or in autumn) as data shows conspiracy theories are widespread and grow everyday (more people may choose not to follow the social distancing norms – as research, specialists and social networks reality tend to suggest)
– the risk of a much higher rate of infection with covid-19 due to toxic stress
– risk of an impaired health and a reduced efficiency of the immune system, leaving many people more vulnerable to covid-19 and other diseases
– risk of xenophobia and social turbulence – as data, history, studies and turbulence around the world tend to show
– risk of dividing the society into mostly two sides: the ones that follow the prevention rules and the ones that believe in conspiracy theories (research strongly suggest they tend not to follow the prevention rules – which is also logic: why follow the prevention rules suggested by science when you believe the disease is caused by .. other causes and that most of the science is wrong or evil-intended?)
– the traumatizing effects of the domestic violence rise during lockdown for children and women needs to be treated or it can mean a terrible lifelong suffering and a terrible and totally unnecesary cost for our society
– risk of a failing or much weaker medical system due to burnout, toxic stress and other mental health issues (unfortunately even more and more suicides) for people working in the “frontlines” (medical staff involved in covid-19 prevention and treatment)
– much higher risks for the vulnerable childen and adults (people with disabilities, living in pverty, etc) – the associated costs for the society are very high
– risk of thousands of billions of dollars being lost in the world economy
– risk of higher mortality rates due to unadressed covid-19 related suicide risks
– ecological risks due to toxic stress and plastics used and thrown in this period – also due to effects of conspiracy theories exposure – as science suggests
– obesity risks, risks of drug abuse or other type of abuse, even risks of compulsive spending
Almost everything we love may be in danger. But as, experience showed us many times, danger may also mean a huge opportunity.
Indeed, it seems that most of these losses can be prevented, as the same data, science and many specialists stronly suggest. Science, specialists, sometimes even history offers us sollutions.
Please find the extended research we found at the end of this pettition.
“I urge governments, civil society, health authorities and others to come together urgently to address the mental health dimension of this pandemic.”
“Mental health services are an essential part of all government responses to COVID-19”
Secretary-General António Guterres, UN
Suggested sollutions:
– make sure self-help interventions are in place that can address the needs of large affected populations;
– provide and promote a smart unique website where people can easily find the scalable digital digital interventions or easily route them to online or offline psychoterapy;
– make sure there is always a telephone option for some people;
– run smart campaign based on risk groups and promote them in places where they might be found (youtube, tv, different news sites, based on profesional analyse);
– make sure there are psychologists involved in mass communication and authority decisions during the crisis, in order for decisions to be properly perceived by the people and not induce psychological distress;
– offer and promote a state-paid psychotherapy and/or emotional intelligence package and therefore free for all people in need;
– provide psychological counseling services, contingency plans and/or training for public health workers, decision makers, all people involved in managing the crisis, people that may experience more stress than usual;
– provide and promote a unique site with tools and resources for children and harmonious child-parent relationships;
– make sure we do all we can to help people understand that a psychological reaction is normal; what they can expect and how to find the tools or help to deal with the mental health challenges;
– monitor and report rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide and other mental health issues both to understand mechanisms and crucially to inform interventions;
– create and promote simple to implement, evidence-based programs to help companies and employees also;
– ensure adequate resources and infrastructure for mental health services;
– consider and respect cultural factors in the implementation of public policies;
– continuously encourage scientific research also in the field of mental health;
– monitor and rebut fake news, find psychological-effcient or evidence-based ways to stop the spread of conspiracy theories;
Please find more suggested sollutions here: https://www.viahappiness.org/the-extended-research-based-suggested-solutions/
Many other solutions can be found with a bit of attention, investment and cooperation between states, local authorities, specialists and NGO’s (mental health, children, vulnerable population).
Please find more suggested solutions here: https://www.viahappiness.org/the-extended-research-based-suggested-solutions/
Please find the research, data and specialists opinion here: https://www.viahappiness.org/research-suggesting-that-millions-of-lifes-of-children-adults-elderly-people-may-be-saved-with-scalable-mental-health-emotional-intelligence-and-stress-management-programs/