Do we need to think about how we manage mental health campaigns. As mental health has become a major business topic, this article outlines the importance of mental health campaigns. How are they set up? What are their results?
In recent years, mental health has received increased attention and recognition as an important aspect of overall well-being. Efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues have increased significantly, with campaigns, initiatives and discussions aimed at reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking behavior. But is there a link between mental health awareness efforts and the reported prevalence of mental health problems? By examining the potential factors at play and the empirical evidence, we can better understand this complex issue.
Stigma reduction
Mental health awareness efforts have contributed to a more open and public dialogue around mental health issues. This helped break down long-standing stigmas, encouraging individuals to share their experiences and seek help. Mental health awareness campaigns have increased the availability of information and resources. This has enabled individuals to better understand mental health, recognize its symptoms, and seek the appropriate help when needed.
Mental health awareness efforts have helped reduce the stigma associated with mental disorders. This has created an environment in which individuals feel more comfortable disclosing their struggles and seeking help, leading to an increase in reporting. Awareness initiatives have improved mental health knowledge, enabling individuals to recognize and label their mental health symptoms. This better understanding may contribute to a higher reporting rate as people are more aware of their mental health issues. Several societal factors, such as increased stress levels, changing social dynamics, and changing cultural norms, may also contribute to the increase in the number of reported mental health problems. While mental health awareness efforts can make identification and reporting easier, these broader contextual factors need to be considered.
Promotion and recognition
Considerable resources have been devoted to raising public awareness of mental health issues. Mental health awareness efforts have undeniably led to positive changes by reducing stigma, encouraging help-seeking behaviors, and connecting individuals with needed support services. These initiatives have provided platforms for education, empathy and community building.
While mental health awareness campaigns are essential, it is crucial to recognize potential unintended consequences. While the targets are admirable, there is a growing realization that they can lead to an escalation in the reporting of "mental health problems", particularly in younger age groups. In an interesting article on the prevalence inflation hypothesis, Foulkes and Andrews (2023) argue that mental health awareness efforts lead to more accurate reporting of previously under-recognized symptoms, which they argue , is a beneficial outcome, but, second, they propose that awareness efforts lead some patients to report mental health problems, they propose that awareness efforts lead some people to interpret and report milder forms of distress as mental health problems, which can lead to a real increase in symptoms in some people, as labeling distress as a mental health problem can sometimes affect a person's self-image and behavior. 'a way that ultimately realizes itself.
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Mixed results
Empirical studies examining the relationship between mental health awareness efforts and the reported prevalence of mental health problems have yielded mixed results. Some studies suggest a positive association, while others find no significant correlation or even a decrease in reported mental health problems. The complexity of measuring mental health, variations in survey methodologies, and potential reporting bias must be considered when interpreting research findings. These factors can influence reported prevalence rates and make it difficult to establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between awareness efforts and increased reporting. Concerns include the possibility of over-medicalization, self-diagnosis without professional help, and the risk of people identifying themselves as having mental health problems based on popular trends or interpretations. erroneous.
Mental health awareness efforts play a vital role in reducing stigma and promoting help-seeking behaviors. Although they have contributed to the increase in reported mental health problems, this increase can be attributed to multiple factors, including reduced stigma and increased mental health literacy. Empirical data suggests a complex relationship, highlighting the need for nuanced approaches that balance the benefits of awareness against potential concerns. Continued research, monitoring, and targeted interventions are needed to ensure mental health awareness efforts effectively support those in need while minimizing unintended consequences.
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Campaigns can actively contribute to the "psychologization" of everyday suffering and distress. Campaigns that encourage self-disclosure may seem admirable, but it has been recognized that stigma and shame remain significant barriers to seeking professional help, particularly in the workplace. A potential social consequence is that there may also be a social dividend to self-reporting and that it may bring secondary gains to those who speak out. Often seen as an explanation for the fact that mental health issues are often glorified, even romanticized, particularly on social media (e.g. quotes about depression against aesthetically appealing backgrounds are widely shared) Foulkes and Andrews (2023) . The question is whether these campaigns lead to an excessive tendency to interpret negative psychological experiences as mental health problems.
Labels and experiences
Philosopher Ian Hacking has proposed an interesting theory about how humans use categories, which involves what he calls "looping effects." It explores the dynamic relationship between social categories and individual behavior. It examines how the classification of individuals into certain categories can influence their self-perception and subsequent behavior, resulting in a feedback loop that reinforces and reshapes the categories themselves.
Hacking's theory of loop effects challenges the traditional view of categories as static and objective, emphasizing instead their active role in shaping the social and psychological realities they represent. According to Hacking, categories such as mental disorders, personality types, or social identities are not fixed entities, but rather socially constructed phenomena. They are the product of historical, cultural and scientific processes that involve the interaction between experts, institutions and individuals. Hacking argues, rightly in my view, that once a category is created and applied to individuals, it can have significant effects on their behavior and experiences, leading to a transformation of the very nature of the category.
The inventor and the invention
One of the key concepts in Hacking theory is "interactive types". Interactive types are categories that have the power to affect the individuals classified into them. For example, the classification of individuals as “autistic” has led to a transformation in the understanding and experience of autism. This classification has influenced not only the way autism is perceived, but also the behavior, self-perception, and experiences of people diagnosed with autism. The very act of categorization creates new possibilities for self-understanding and shapes the individual's subsequent actions.
Hacking identifies two main loop effects: "human types" and "dynamic nominalism". Human types refer to categories that shape individuals' experiences and self-identification, influencing the development of new ways of being. For example, the categorization of individuals as having "multiple personality disorder" has led to the emergence of new psychological phenomena, with individuals adopting and embodying multiple identities as a result of the diagnostic label. Dynamic nominalism, on the other hand, describes the process by which categories change over time due to their impact on the behavior of individuals. As individuals conform to or resist the expectations associated with a category, the category itself evolves. The process of categorization has real-world consequences, influencing individual behavior, institutional practices, and social dynamics. By recognizing looping effects, Hacking challenges us to critically examine and understand the power dynamics inherent in the creation and application of categories, encouraging a more nuanced and thoughtful approach to how we we classify and understand ourselves and others.
Overinterpretation of experience can lead to excessive pathologization of everyday distress. As Hacking reminds us, we can trigger a self-fulfilling prophecy effect, where the prophecy of the event leads to the event of the prophecy. Believing that our distress is a sign of a pathological problem can lead to a greater reaction of anxiety or depression. We need to better understand how mental health campaigns can seek to reduce these negative effects, with a view to improving outcomes and the availability of treatment for everyone, regardless of age, gender, race or background. social.
References
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
- Angermeyer, MC, Matschinger, H. and Riedel-Heller, SG (1999). Whose depression is it? Whose anxiety is it? Lay attitudes towards the labeling of mental disorders. Social Science & Medicine, 48(6), 761-770. doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00386-1
- Corrigan, P. W. and Watson, A. C. (2007). The stigma of mental illness: Explanatory models and methods for change. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 12(4), 179-190. doi:10.1016/j.apsy.2007.09.001
- Foulkes, L., Andrews, J., (2023). Are mental health awareness efforts contributing to the increase in reported mental health problems? A call to test the prevalence inflation hypothesis, New Ideas in Psychology, Volume 69,
- Gibson, P. (2022). Escaping The Anxiety Trap. Strategic Science Books.
- Hare, D.J. (2017). Are rising rates of mental health problems a cause for concern? Journal of Mental Health, 26(5), 393-398. doi:10.1080/09638237.2017.1290302
- Kessler, RC, Chiu, WT, Demler, O., Merikangas, KR and Walters, EE (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 617-627. doi:10.1001/archaic.62.6.617
- Lauber, C., Rössler, W. (2007). Stigma towards people with mental illness in developing countries in Asia. International Review of Psychiatry, 19(2), 157-178. doi:10.1080/09540260701278929
- Murphy, K. (2021) The Guardian. Do mental health awareness campaigns do more harm than good?
- Pescosolido, BA, Martin, JK, Lang, A. and Olafsdottir, S. (2008). Rethinking theoretical approaches to stigma: A Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS). Social Science & Medicine, 67(3), 431-440. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.018
- Rose, D. (2005). Stigma, discrimination and mental health promotion. In PD Corrigan (Ed.), On the stigma of mental illness: Practical strategies for research and social change (pp. 361-384). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- Sartorius, N. and Schulze, H. (2005). Reducing the stigma of mental illness: A report from a global program of the World Psychiatric Association. Cambridge University Press.
- Thornicroft, G. (2006). Shunned: Discrimination against people with mental illness. Oxford University Press.
- World Health Organization. (2001). World health report 2001 - Mental health: New vision, new hopes. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
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