News item | 10-06-2022 | 15:26
The mental health of many people is under pressure, especially among young people and young adults. Several studies have shown this recently. That is why State Secretary Van Ooijen of Public Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and fellow ministers from VWS, SZW and OCW are launching the cabinet approach ‘Mental health: for all of us’.
The approach is intended for all Dutch people, with specific attention for young people and young adults, workers and people in a vulnerable position. Together with the target group itself and a broad group of social partners, the government wants to make mental health a topic for discussion and offer tools to promote the mental health of yourself and others and to prevent complaints or to identify them in good time. The aim is for young people to feel good about themselves, employees to be able to do their work with energy and pleasure and vulnerable people to receive extra support where necessary.
Number of mental complaints is high
Concerns had been around for some time, but the corona crisis has brought existing mental health problems even more sharply to light and has also created new ones. Society has become increasingly complex, places high demands on people and places great emphasis on performance and self-reliance. Depression, anxiety disorders and problems with alcohol and drugs affect about 1.8 million Dutch people in the age group of 18 to 65 years. Students are experiencing increasing pressure at school. About 840,000 young people experience mental challenges and/or complaints and 1 in 15 young people in the Netherlands suffers from depression. At the same time, social cohesion is declining and pressure on the labor market is increasing. In 2019, 1.3 million people suffered from burnout complaints. And that while good mental health is associated with a 15 to 20 year longer life expectancy, partly due to faster recovery from physical diseases.
Not the best version of yourself every day
State Secretary Van Ooijen: “Mental health belongs to all of us. Everyone has to deal with it, because nobody always feels 100%, not even myself. At the same time, we are all part of the solution, of the culture change that is needed to take some pressure off everyone. Because the pressure that everything has to be better, faster and cum laude, we mainly put on ourselves and each other. You really don’t have to be the best version of yourself every day.
In addition, it is also important that more attention is paid to causes of stress that are located in society. This also expressly requires something from social organizations in our society, from schools, from employers and the government (both locally and nationally). These parties are already undertaking many great initiatives, but to strengthen the movement we must connect them and give them extra strength. In addition, I want to keep in touch with the target group about what is needed in the coming period, for example with the Youth Panel Mental Health. Together we strive for a resilient society in which we look after each other and pay attention to the mental health of ourselves and of each other.”
Mental Meetup
The cabinet wants to use various moments to put mental health on the agenda for discussion. From 2023, the cabinet wants to join the annual European Mental Health Week in May. All schools, sports, culture, youth associations, employers and social organizations are called upon to pay attention to mental health during this week. In anticipation, the State Secretary is already initiating the ‘Mental Meetup‘, a day on which we organize activities around the subject of mental health. Autumn was deliberately chosen; the goal is to start a conversation in time about how people can get through the busier and dark winter months in a mentally healthy way. Young people will also have completed the first weeks of the new school year, during which time they may have experienced the factors that influence their mental health again.
Stimulating meaning and encounter through exercise, art and culture in the neighbourhood
When it comes to mental health, many people think of whether or not they experience psychological complaints, for which the solution lies in a support program that suits the individual situation. Although this is important in the case of psychological problems, the solution for reducing and/or preventing mental complaints mainly lies in an approach that involves and affects everyone in society, in everyday life. The approach focuses emphatically on areas of life where mental health deserves extra attention: in the neighbourhood, at school, at work and online. Think of walk-in opportunities in the neighbourhood, stimulating meaning and meeting through exercise, art and culture, paying more attention to pressure to perform at school, breaking the taboo on burnout complaints or informing young people about creating a good balance between online and offline.
Mind Us and Thrive Amsterdam
We also link up with good initiatives that already exist, such as the efforts of various municipalities in the field of mental health. Think of Thrive Amsterdam, Gezond010 of the Municipality of Rotterdam and the Leiden Prevention Agreement. It also works together with the MIND Us initiative for a mentally healthy youth, of which Her Majesty Queen Máxima is the honorary chair.