The reign of the word as the exclusive medium for real-time communication is coming to an end. Images have evolved into a new language. We are using them to communicate about how we are thinking, feeling, and interacting with the world around us. They are, in effect, replacing written language for many of the things we once relied on words to express.
If you suffer from poor mental health, you are part of a very large and growing group. Many of the greatest and toughest people of all time have done so.
Politicians, astronauts, poets painters, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, actors, sportsman, peace activists, war leaders and a billion others have fought their own battles.
WINSTON CHURCHILL, BUZZ ALDRIN, RUSSELL BRAND, FRANK BRUNO, ERNEST HEMINGWAY, JIM CARREY, WINSTON CHURCHILL, RICHARD DREYFUSS, F SCOTT FITZGERALD, STEPHEN KING, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, MOZART, ISSAC NEWTON, AL PACINO, TEDDY ROOSEVELT, BOB CARLOS CLARKE, BEN STILLER, STEPHEN FRY.
To name but a few…
By 2030, depression will be the second highest cause of disease burden in middle-income countries and the third highest in low-income countries. [WHO]
In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. [WHO]
More than 90% of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder. [NIH]
Suicide is among the three leading causes of death among those ages 15-44 years in some countries, and the second leading cause of death in the 10-24 years age group. [WHO]
This year the number of young children contacting Childline for suicide counselling in the UK has risen by 20%
Suicides by women decline after age 60, but the rate among men keeps climbing. Elderly white men have the highest rate: more than 47 per 100,000 among those over age 85.
Young women are the highest risk group in England for mental health problems, according to new data from NHS Digital with 1 in 4 women reporting anxiety and depression.
In the UK, 70% of people affected by mental illness experience discrimination with
45% of all absenteeism in the workplace attributed to stress. [The Guardian]
