Why Mental Health is Unequally Distributed

Why Mental Health is Unequally Distributed
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Why Mental Health is Unequally Distributed
Mental health is an integral element that significantly affects a person's standard of living, social interactions, and economic possibilities. Mental health is not equitably dispersed within society; variations exist in prevalence rates, incidences, and severity levels for different groups based on their societal status. In this case, the essay will explore why inequalities are present regarding mental well-being and outline three factors influencing social inequity in mental health.
Since immemorial, mental health issues have plagued the world; however, reasons abound for the unequal distribution of these problems amongst people from different backgrounds have not been fully established. The essay will discuss risk and protective factors, socioeconomic position, and people’s ethnic or cultural backgrounds as the primary factors influencing the unequal distribution of mental health. According to Edge & Grey (2018), risk and protective factors play an integral role in determining success in tackling varying cases of mental disorders across diverse settings globally. Risk factors refer to conditions capable of increasing vulnerability toward developing certain forms of mental health. On the contrary, protective factors mitigate against such experiences. For example, individuals who suffer trauma due to abuse are at higher risk than peers not subjected to such degrading treatment. This could develop into post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression, affecting emotional balance and poor outcomes. While some groups may experience high-risk situations more frequently due to insufficient funds, others, especially those living below the poverty line, suffer from denied access to medical resources.
Protective factors help reduce the impact of risk factors and stimulate better mental well-being results. For instance, a strong network of social support systems, quality access to healthcare and education, and positive coping mechanisms greatly reduce the possibility of developing psychological problems. However, protective measures are not uniformly allocated among all members of society, which often means people from particular socio-economic backgrounds may be disadvantaged concerning accessing such resources, thus escalating their probability of experiencing poor mental health outcomes (Edge & Grey, 2018). Therefore, it is clear that understanding why prevailing disparities exist in various communities requires recognizing both aspects - identifying predisposing risks while equally acknowledging what arrangements are available to protect victims against negative influences. Generally, individuals facing greater economic or societal disadvantage become more vulnerable to mental health.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is vital in determining how mental health outcomes are distributed. Research consistently indicates that people with higher poverty, societal isolation, and prejudice face greater dangers for inadequate mental health results (World Health Organization, 2018). Chronic stress is one main way SES impacts individuals’ psychological well-being b...