What can we do about the world’s mental health problem?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2019
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If there was a serious illness that we knew thirty percent of us would experience in our lives, wouldn’t we do everything in our power to address it? Well research suggests that one in three of us will experience a serious mental health problem at some point in our lives; it’s a topic many are uncomfortable about discussing but one that shows no signs of going away. Slowly we’re beginning to learn more about which factors cause anxiety and depression but old prejudices are hard to come overcome so – what can we do about the world’s mental health problem?
Presenter: Celia Hatton Producer: Lizzy McNeill Researcher: Helen Grady
Experts: Vikram Patel Shekhar Saxena Sir Graham Thornicroft Grace Ryan
(image: Earth sunrise in space. Credit Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the inquiry with me Celia Hatton. |
| 0:05.0 | Each week one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 0:10.0 | In July, China's all-powerful state media trumpeted the findings of a major medical study. |
| 0:19.0 | Stroke is now the leading cause of death, the headlines read, going on to warn about the dangers of eating |
| 0:25.2 | too much salt. |
| 0:26.9 | It was the kind of health store you might read in any newspaper anywhere. |
| 0:32.1 | But in online chat groups, Chinese people focused on something else that had crept into the death statistics. |
| 0:39.0 | For the first time, depressive disorders had jumped onto China's top 10 list of |
| 0:47.8 | killers. |
| 0:48.8 | Depression ranks 10th, wrote one person, scoring more than 11,000 likes. |
| 0:55.0 | Tens of thousands of people then seized the rare chance to voice their true feelings |
| 1:01.0 | online, ignoring the threat of China's sensors. |
| 1:05.0 | Over half those who are depressed haven't even been diagnosed. |
| 1:09.0 | They're being ignored, read one popular comment. |
| 1:13.0 | People don't seek treatment because society is prejudiced, said another. |
| 1:18.0 | The discussion grew, eventually racking up more than 50,000 comments and more than 4 million views in just over a day. |
| 1:27.0 | A huge number, even for China. |
| 1:30.0 | That's just one snapshot from one country, but it points to a nagging concern for many of us. |
| 1:38.0 | So this week we're asking, what can we do about the world's mental health problem? Part 1, every country is a developing country. |
| 1:56.0 | If I'm asked the question how many people are affected by mental health problems globally, I would really respond by |
| 2:05.0 | asking the question how many people are affected by physical health |
| 2:08.3 | problems globally and I think if you look at the latter question |
... |
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