Promoting good mental health is vital

Public health teams in local councils are responsible for leading initiatives that promote good physical and mental health.

Unfortunately, local councils aren’t investing enough in promoting good mental health and preventing poor mental health. We have repeatedly campaigned for councils to do more but, despite this, year on year local councils are only spending around 1 per cent (on average) of their public health budgets on mental health programmes.

Having a mental health problem can impact on all aspects of our lives, from our relationships, to work, to our physical health. Without the right support it can prevent us from living the life we want to lead. The personal costs are immeasurable. Mental health problems have also been well documented to cost the economy greatly. So it makes sense to promote good mental health and prevent mental health problems when we can.