Doing something for Your Mental Health Pays off!
A survey by Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz (Health Promotion Switzerland) comes to a clear conclusion: The more you do for your mental health, the less you become mentally ill. But what exactly do I have to do and how? Where can I get support? We'll tell you in this article.
People who exercise regularly are physically fitter and healthier. This connection is immediately obvious. But can I do something to be mentally fit and healthy? You can – and you should! A survey conducted by Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz (Health Promotion Switzerland) in January 2021 with over 3,000 people between the ages of 15 and 95 clearly states, "The more often a person strengthens their own mental health, the less often they are affected by long-term mental lows."
According to the survey, taking care of one's own mental health is important to a large proportion of the Swiss population, namely 60%. However, only 46% say they "know what they can do to strengthen their own mental health”. It doesn't seem to be as simple as with sports and physical fitness.
A Taboo Subject
In order to strengthen one's own mental health, 73% consider experiencing moments of relaxation to be helpful. Accepting oneself as one is is mentioned by 69%, maintaining contact with friends and being active (exercise) by 68% each. On the other hand, only 45% firmly believe that talking about their feelings can strengthen their mental health. Asking for help is a promising option for 49%.
The fact that many prefer not to address mental health directly makes it clear that it remains a taboo subject in broad circles. There is still a high stigma attached to mental illness. 15% of respondents in the survey "would definitely not want their peers to know if they were suffering from a mental illness." Only a third would have no problem with this. Many people (28%) also do not know that mental illnesses are curable in many cases.
Improve Information
Health Promotion Switzerland sees a need for action on two levels: access to useful and helpful information and the removal of barriers that prevent people from seeking help.
As far as information on mental health is concerned, Employees Switzerland provides such information comprehensively. On Apunto-Online you can find various articles on mental health topics, and on our website you can find out what counseling we offer. However, the easiest and most comprehensive way to get information is to use our new mental health application "Etwas tun?!” (in German). There you will find everything you need to know about mental health in general and you can playfully find out how your own mental health is doing. The app suggests ways to solve health problems.
Remove Barriers
"More than a third of the population does not want to burden others with their own problems," Health Promotion Switzerland found in the survey. This is a strong barrier that prevents sufferers from seeking help in the event of a mental health crisis.
It is not the only one. 21% said they don't feel like talking about their mental problems, 18% are embarrassed. 12% have no social contacts with whom they could talk (on this topic, see the article "Einsamkeit – die Epidemie unserer Zeit?"). The cost of professional help also keeps some of the population from seeking it.
If these barriers are removed, a lot of suffering can be avoided. Employees Switzerland helps to tear them down. You can contact us at any time with confidence (telephone 044 360 11 11, info@angstellte.ch). We would also like to encourage you to help others to overcome the barriers.
Do It!
According to the Health Promotion Switzerland survey, most people with a mental illness do not confide in a family doctor (about 38%), a psychotherapist (a good 20%) or a counseling center (about 2%), but rather in their best friend (about 50%), their partner (just under 40%) or a close family member (just under 50%).
People who were not themselves affected by a mental illness were asked from whom they would seek help should the case arise. Their values are consistently higher, and in some cases differ considerably, from the values of those affected. For example, the non-affected report a 25% higher likelihood that they would turn to their partner than the affected effectively do. The range is just as wide concerning the general practitioners. On the other hand, the values for the best friend are almost the same. We can conclude from the figures: Non-affected persons intend to confide in their partner or family doctor, while affected persons tend to turn to their best friend and close family members.
The fact that the intended behavior does not fully coincide with the actual behavior is not so important. It is much more important to close the gap between intention and action. We encourage everyone who has a psychological issue: Don't hesitate, do it! Get help. We support you. For example with our new app "Etwas tun?!" (available only in German).
