The public health agenda of the United States seems to have overlooked mental health in favor of other aspects, with half of the mentally ill population not receiving needed treatment. Human productivity and social interaction has been proven to be linked with mental health, and mental disorders caused as much disability as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and more than all cancers and HIV. Most mental disorders have onsets by age 14 to 24, although depression and anxiety disorders can have a period of 8 to 14 years between onset and diagnosis, which indicates a suggested window of screening for adolescents. Access for Americans to health care has increased due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, which also allows for those 26 and under to stay on their parents' health care plans.
This lack of emphasis on mental health in United States society carries over to other countries, as fitness centers and "health" food stores abound but mental health clinics do not. The precedence rests itself on appearance as though that will make on happy, but statistically that is not the case. Although in some areas such as Argentina, seeing a therapist is considered "chic", for the vast majority of the world this activity is viewed as less than socially acceptable, if even available. If the United States were to move mental health to the forefront of its priorities, other countries would follow suit and relationships between countries would undeniably improve. If there is no change, however, it will continue to worsen. Health and mental health are viewed as two separate entities in most places, but viewed holistically they can be understood better and by improving one the other aspects of health will get better as well.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-l-cohen-md/mental-health_b_2057553.html?utm_hp_ref=health-news&ir=Health%20News
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