Poverty and mental illness goes hand in hand; one can't tackle one without the other one, says Dean Burnett after the latest report by Lord Richard Layard suggested that happiness depends on friends and health, not money. The Guardian's reporter noted though that he has no issue with Lord Layard and just want to emphasize that the study has overlooked the truth that the two are necessarily linked together and can't be addressed individually unless the two are tackled together.
The two-way association between mental illness and poverty has been the focus of several studies across the globe. The latest research which is led by Lord Richard Layard has suggested that most man misery can be attributed to mental and physical illness and failed relationships rather than poverty and money problems. Lord Layard has said that mental sickness is a larger cause of human misery than poverty in the society. This is where the problem lies, says Dean Burnett.
Burnett said while it is true that one does not have to live in poverty to experience mental illness, but poverty is a lot bigger risk factor for mental health issues, just like smoking is a larger risk factor for lung cancer. He continued to say that the triggers and causes of mental illness are varied, numerous and often poorly understood, including trauma, genetics or other cause of significant stress. However, there is rarely "one" reason which causes them - stress.
How stress might trigger mental illness? If a person is exposed to stress all day every single day, the capacity of his/her brain to handle it is already used up and so the brain has no more ability to deal with it till the person reaches a breaking point and can't cope with it anymore.
According to the latest stress survey conducted by American Psychological Association, 66 percent of Americans frequently experience physical signs of stress and 63 percent of people experience psychological symptoms, the PsychCentral has learned. Many people face pressure from different sources, including health, work, media overload, relationship worries and money.
So what cause stress? Burnett said the cause of stress is poverty. A person got stressed if he/she can't pay the bills, buy foods, pay the rent, and afford to supply the needs of children. A person got massively stressed if he/she is residing in a high-crime and dangerous neighborhood because he/she can't afford to live anywhere better. Those are few factors which can cause mental health issues, all of which arise from poverty.
In the end, Burnett suggested that one can't ignore the links between mental illness and poverty. Dealing with both would benefit everyone, but as long as we have one we should expect the other, he wrote in his report posted in The Guardian.
