The United Nations Reject Mental Health as a Priority?

Mental health the big talking point in the world from the United States to us back at home in the UK. We seem to be united on thinking it should be a priority, so why have the United Nations cut it off their radar?
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It seems to be the issue that most people either want to talk about or would never talk about.

Mental health the big talking point in the world from the United States to us back at home in the UK.

We seem to be united on thinking it should be a priority, so why have the United Nations cut it off their radar?

It is thought in Britain that 1 in 4 people will suffer a mental health problem.

It shares the same risk factors with suicide now becoming a major cause of death by injury.

When asked the question about the UN's decision about 2015 priorities, many ministry of health staff simple say "It's not a priority".

Mental Health is responsible for almost a quarter of all the disability in the world, so simply saying it's not a priority defies belief surely?

One particular sufferer, Alice Rutherford-Hyde from Newcastle upon-Tyne who suffered depression said " This move seems completely un-thought out and will see more people like myself withdrawing from mainstream life" and that seems to be the response of others too.

The Mentally ill are more likely to be unemployed or homeless and are also one of the most stigmatised people in our society.

In a study done in Scandinavia showed that men with mental illness die on average 20 years younger than the general population and followed on to say women with mental illness did on average 15 years younger.

These shocking findings should be enough to persuade the UN that it is a urgent issue.

It also hits us financially with $16 trillion loss in global economic output according to the World Economic Forum.

The worlds leading psychiatrists have started what has been said to be a historic bid to include mental health post-2015 development goals.

Graham Thornicroft, one of the UKs leading experts on mental illness told The Independent on Sunday that the UN need to stop "a conspiracy of silence" in countries all over the world.

He also added "We see failure at every level of mental health" calling it "a systematic problem"

The truth is even after all of that, no targets have been included in the MDGs, psychiatrists have responded by calling it "systematic neglect".

MDGs will be changed to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aimed at guiding global policies till the end of this century.

With mental health being the final Taboo and the final fence to clear before complete health equality, the UN should have a feeling of moral responsibility to uphold.

The UN have not yet commented on any change to involve mental health in their global targets but all those suffering out there, it can't come soon enough.