Time to change- about mental health The mental health problems can affect any individual and statistically out of every 4 people 1 experience problems related to mental health.It is not only the experience of facing mental health problems but the taboos and stigma associated with it which makes matters more complex and people with mental health problems have to face shame,isolation and judgment. It is vital that social movements like Time to Change come up to bringing about significant changes in the way of thinking of people and help in ending the discrimination against mental health problems (time-to-change.org.uk, 2019). One of the important aspects to consider while addressing the problems related to mental health is to emphasize the role of attitude of people towards people facing mental health problems. There have instances where people facing mental health problems have been misunderstood by their families, they have faced ignorance from their friends, neighbors and colleagues. The stigma and discriminatory attitude prevents people with mental health problems to come forward and seek medical and counseling help. This leads them to drift into isolation, facing difficulties to form new relationships or restrict them from sustaining their current relationships having a negative impact on their lives. In order to end this discriminatory practice against people having mental health problems it is important to improve the public behavior and attitude towards people. The personal relationships and family members have a key role to play in helping to reduce the discriminatory practices as their actions will help in challenging the stigma associated with mental health problems.It is required that communities,workplace,schools and social media platforms are utilized to generate awareness among people to stand for the rights of individuals facing mental health problems and actions can be taken against those who indulge in such discriminatory practices 2
(Salerno, 2016). A sustainable and long term campaign in required to generate awareness among people and eradicate such discriminatory practices against people with mental health issues. Ideas to support mental health awareness and improve outcomes The family members, friends and neighbors can be educated regarding behavioral intentions which are mediated according to knowledge about mental health associated problems.In this regard social media and digital platforms can be utilized to disseminate knowledge effectively (Sahaet al.2019). The diverse methods for delivering campaign goals to end discriminatory practices must be adopted to have far and wider each among the people for bringing about effective changes.The tailored interventions for encouraging people to seek help from primary care will improve due to widespread awareness. The workplace interventions will also be incorporated by the employers to help in providing support and reasonable adjustment in the workplace to end discriminatory practices against people having mental health problems. 3
References time-to-change.org.uk(2019),Aboutmentalhealth.Retrievedfrom<https://www.time-to- change.org.uk/about-mental-health> Salerno, J. P. (2016). Effectiveness of universal school‐based mental health awareness programs among youth in the United States: a systematic review.Journal of school health,86(12), 922-931. Saha, K., Torous, J., Ernala, S. K., Rizuto, C., Stafford, A., & De Choudhury, M. (2019). A computationalstudyofmentalhealthawarenesscampaignsonsocialmedia. Translational behavioral medicine. 4