Community-led mental health projects in low-income countries are having a positive impact on people’s mental health, according to UK-based publication Positive News. In Zimbabwe, grandmothers trained in cognitive behavioural therapy counselling skills are deployed to help people with depression and anxiety. The Friendship Bench programme is being piloted in a low-income London neighbourhood. Simple human interaction, conversations, and support from peers are the common tools used by all the projects featured, which aimed to tackle problems identified by the communities themselves. In Peru, a movement supporting neurodivergent citizens was launched last year, providing a network of support to a marginalised community, while hairdressers in the Ivory Coast are now trained to recognise the symptoms of mental illness.
Mental illness affects one in every eight people, according to the World Health Organisation, equivalent to 970 million individuals worldwide. In low-income countries, where spending on mental health is usually absent or tiny, the problem can be exacerbated. However, the publication found that there are effective community-led initiatives. In Yemen, a free daily sports club is helping men to keep fit and boost their mental health in parks across the country. In the Guatemalan highlands, indigenous women lead women’s circles, working towards improving wellbeing by empowering their peers.
In the UK, where the government spends around £13bn ($16.8bn) on mental health services each year and psychiatrists and medication are widely available, one in six adults has experienced common mental health problems in the past week. Positive News argues that simple, low-cost solutions that depend on people talking to, supporting, listening to, and advising one another could offer great hope in mental health support and treatment
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