Mental Health is political: how oppressive systems hurt our minds

Did you know that there has been a 13% per cent rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorders in the last decade? And that 20% of the world’s children and adolescents nowadays have a mental health condition? 

Sadly, when it comes to the topic of mental health, the list of grim facts is long. In light of the European Commission's President, Ursula Von der Leyen announcing a new strategy for mental health,  in today’s episode we take a deep dive into understanding how we got here - from individual preconditions to the pandemic and to systemic oppression, everything is linked!

Our guest, Srishagon Abraham, Member of the Executive Committee, Young European Greens, explains the effect different correlations can have on one’s mental health and how the pandemic despite its devastating impact on our mental health, also contributed to raising awareness about it including issues related to funding, lack of treatment, backlog in services etc.

We also discuss how solutions to improving our mental health lay in more than just funding - what we really need is a deeper more systemic shift to cut off the problem at its roots.
Learn more about the Young European Greens and mental health here.

We recommend reading and following: Tricia Hersey author of “Rest is Resistance” and founder of The Nap Ministry