As mental health issues are given huge media attention this week, Clifford Hill reflects on depression: is it a purely individual problem, or does it also have something to do with wider trends in society?

Mental health issues have been given a lot of media attention during the past week. A report by a task force set up by NHS England reported that every year a quarter of the population suffer some form of mental health problem, but three quarters of these do not receive any help.¹

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus upon mental health issues and promising additional funding.

An Issue Close to Home

The BBC screened a programme on Tuesday this week (16 February, BBC1), still available on iPlayer, which I found particularly harrowing as it featured a young mother whom I've known personally for a number of years - the daughter of one of my friends (he also spoke movingly on the programme). Although a qualified paediatric nurse and a committed Christian with a vibrant faith, after the birth of her first baby she suffered from a rare form of post-natal depression.

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus on mental health issues.

It is known as 'post-partum psychosis', from which 1 in 500 mothers are said to suffer. Her condition was so severe and caused such powerful mood-swings that she was actually suicidal and had to be admitted to a specialised mother and baby unit. She has now made a remarkable recovery and her baby is doing well, for which the whole family are giving thanks to God.

The Prime Minister chairs a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health issues in the work place, 15 February, 2016. See Photo Credits.Of course, there are many different forms of mental health issues. By a strange coincidence, two other friends have contacted me during the past week concerning mental health problems with their children. One of these has been struggling to deal with a mixture of aggression and depression in his teenage children since their mother left home to live with someone else.

The Cost of Family Breakdown

The suffering caused by family breakdown is immeasurable. The effects upon physical health and mental and emotional well-being are having life-changing outcomes for millions of children. More than half of all children in Britain will experience a broken home before they leave school.

The unsettling effects of domestic disputes and the disruption of family life affect educational attainment and future life-chances. They also create psychological problems such as aggressive behaviour, which teachers have to deal with in school, and barriers to relationships of love and trust with others that can affect their adult life.

A report last week from the Relationships Foundation said that the cost of family breakdown to the economy of the nation has risen to a staggering £48 billion annually, which means a cost to each taxpayer of £1,820 a year.² Health, education and the economy are all affected by the strength or weakness of family life and our human relationships.

The cost of family breakdown to the national economy is a staggering £48 billion annually - and its impacts on physical, mental and emotional well-being are life-changing for millions of children.

It is in the family that character and personality are developed. If family life is unstable or aggressive it will inevitably affect the children and their relationships with other children. It is no wonder that, with family breakdown so prevalent in Britain, half of all mental health problems are established by age 14, rising to 75% by age 24.³

Rise in Cyber-Bullying

It is quite incredible how cruel children can be to each other and sadly, social media now gives them even more opportunity to spread mischief, lies and hate messages. The other friend who contacted me this week is a single mother whose 15-year-old son is suffering from depression, brought on by migraines as a result of cyber-bullying. His condition has become so severe that he cannot face going to school and is having to be home-schooled in preparation for his forthcoming GCSE exams.

Social media often encourages aggressive behaviour by providing an anonymous environment in which cyber-bullies can operate. The faceless senders feel they can swear, insult, threaten and intimidate their victims, with no thought of the extreme damage and distress being caused. Victims often become frightened and withdrawn – not knowing for sure who is threatening them, and feeling powerless to prevent it. They often suffer depression and related mental health problems - their 'real' relationships suffer – and some are even driven to commit suicide.⁴

Pippa Smith of SaferMedia, in a statement for this magazine, said:

The Internet is a breeding ground for abusive trolls, pornographers and paedophiles, yet children are spending several hours a day on their mobile phones and have easy access to social media sites which is making them vulnerable to dangerous messages. From the comfort of their own bedrooms, unbeknown to their parents, they can be groomed for sex, bullied and even driven to suicide by anorexia sites, suicide sites, and by those who hide behind anonymity to attack and exploit. Facebook, Twitter and others need to act urgently to introduce tighter security settings such as proper vetting and a tougher registration process to protect the vulnerable.

Rev Lynda Rose, Convener of the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group also gave us a statement:

It's a difficult crime to pin down and police powers are inadequate, while the social media has been notoriously slow to respond to complaints and protect victims. This is why the Parliamentary Group is calling for Parliament to strengthen the law governing social media. We want to see victims protected, with dedicated police units set up to deal quickly and efficiently with offenders.

Civilised Society?

Protecting children should be one of the chief objectives not only of government but of the whole population in a civilised society. Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children. He specifically spoke about those "who cause little ones to sin" (Matt 18:6). Clearly Jesus was speaking about those who harm the minds of children: what today we would call 'grooming', so that their understanding of right and wrong becomes blurred.

Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children.

Many of the different forms of depression afflicting millions of people in the nation result from the enormous pressures we put upon each other in a competitive, acquisitive and affluent society. The whole of our Western civilisation has become self-centred. We view everything from the standpoint of our own self-advantage, which affects all our human relationships. When sinful human relationships get into the family, family life breaks down.

This is where dealing with many forms of depression really starts. We should all be taking the family relationships test to discover how much we care for others. Paul describes ideal relationships within the family. He says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Does this describe your love relationship with each member of your family? When family relationships are right, righteous relationships in the nation are restored and so too are the health and welfare of each individual.

Finally, the widespread prevalence of depression in the nation should lead us to recognise how we have abandoned our Judaeo-Christian heritage and that only by embracing the word of God will we be brought into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. The apostle John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). Being firmly in the Father's love gives us the security to deal with anything that happens to us.

References

1 The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. A report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England, February 2016.

2 Counting the Cost of Family Failure: 2016 update, Relationships Foundation.

3 See 1.

4 The 2015 UK Annual Bullying Survey (Ditch the Label) reports that 43% of young people experience bullying, 62% of which have been cyber-bullied. That means that over a quarter of young people in Britain have been victims of cyber-bullying.