Mental health affects all aspects of our life. ​Yet, it’s the most neglected area

Mental health affects all aspects of our life. ​Yet, it’s the most neglected area

Mental health affects all aspects of our life. ​Yet, it’s the most neglected area of public health, driving higher risk of comorbid disorders and mortality. 

​’Mental health’ as a term refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It is all about how we think, feel, and behave. The state of your mental health determines how you handle stress, how you relate to others, and how you make healthy choices. As such, mental health affects all aspects of daily living, relationships, and physical health. For some people, “mental health” means the absence of a mental disorder. For others, it equals a life with daily stressors, mood disorders, affecting their ability to function.

Close to 1 billion people globally are living with a mental disorder[1]. In fact, mental disorder affects one in four families – a number which is expected to rise significantly over the next 20 years [2]. As measured by ’years of life lived with disability’, mental illness is the biggest disease burden in society today[3].

Without doubt, mental health is an important topic. Yet, the magnitude and burden of mental disorders remain unmet by the response. Countries across the globe have long overlooked the issue of mental health and mental illness. As such, more than 33% of countries allocate less than 1% of the total health budgets to mental health, with another 33% of countries spending just 1% of their budgets on mental health[4]. Consequently, relatively few people around the world have access to quality mental health services. In low- and middle-income countries, more than 75% of people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders receive no treatment for their condition at all [5].

If left untreated, mental illness can lead to other commodity disorders, such as depression, substance abuse and even early mortality. Substance abuse is common among people who are battling a depressive disorder, which can lead to further exacerbation of the symptoms related to depression, impairing mental functioning, and further damaging overall spirit, quality of life. Likewise, many individuals who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also diagnosed with mental disorders, and vice versa. As such, mental health disorder patients accounts of 44% of cocaine and 38% of alcohol consumption​ [6,7]. ​

The magnitude, suffering and burden in terms of disability and costs for individuals, families and societies are staggering. Every year, the harmful use of alcohol results in millions of deaths, including hundreds of thousands of young lives lost. Illicit drug use disorders is – directly and indirectly – responsible for over 750,000 deaths per year. ​Not to mention, the 1 million people, whom commit suicide every year across the world [8].

Mental health has been hidden behind a curtain of stigma and discrimination for too long. It is time to bring it out into the open. Help us raise awareness, by sharing our post.

To learn more about how Monsenso mhealth solution can be used to increase treatment outcome, see our video below:

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Sources:

[1]WHO -2020

[2] WHO -2001

[3] WHO – 2012

[4] WHO – 2019 

[5] WHO – The Mental health Gab Action Programme (mhGAP)

[6] Drugabuse.org, The national Bureau of Economic research – 2020

[7] The National bureau of economic research. Mental health and substance abuse. 2020.

[8] WHO – Investigating in mental health

Municipality of Ikast-Brande strengthens its addiction services with Monsenso

Municipality of Ikast-Brande strengthens its addiction services with Monsenso

Copenhagen, Denmark – 17 January 2019. Monsenso, a Danish healthtech company focused on mobile health solutions for mental health, is proud to announce our newest collaboration with the Center for Rusmiddelbehandling in the municipality of Ikast-Brande. The aim of the pilot project is to examine how the Monsenso mhealth solution can be used as an integrated part of the addiction treatment, across both alcohol and substance misuse.

The project, which will be running from January 2019 to January 2020, will primarily involve people in outpatient treatment. This is the first step in implementing the solution more broadly throughout the center’s services, widening the scope and population that they can reach, and ultimately benefitting the people living in the municipality.

The aim of the project is to evaluate the clinical and financial benefits of using the Monsenso Solution. This is relevant for clients currently receiving treatment and for clients who have completed their treatment and are part of the post-treatment service, where it is crucial not to fall back into old and undesired habits.

With the help of the Monsenso solution and the data that are being reported directly by the client, the clinician will be able to personalise the treatment to fit each client’s needs, as they have knowledge of the client’s issues over time. It also allows for clinicians to be more proactive and reach out to clients at the time they need help in order to avoid potential relapses.

Thomas Lethenborg, CEO of Monsenso ApS, says: “The Center for Rusmiddelbehandling in Ikast-Brande strives to enhance the quality of their services by implementing the newest technology. Addiction services are an interesting growth area for Monsenso, and we are convinced that implementing our solution will be beneficial to both clients and clinicians. Moreover, the collected data are opening up a number of exciting and innovative opportunities relating to addiction treatment.”

Mette Christensen, the Head of the Center for Rusmiddelbehandling, says: “We are implementing this new technology in our addiction services to improve the quality of the treatment we can provide. At the same time, we get to be more pro-active and understand our clients better, which will profit both them and the entire municipality. The clinicians are motivated to try a different working method, so we look forward to getting started”.

Click here to read the press release in Danish.


About Center for Rusmiddelbehandling
Center for Rusmiddelbehandling (CFR) is Ikast-Brande municipality’s offer of counselling, treatment and prevention of alcohol and substance misuse. The center currently has 20 employees with different educational backgrounds, which provides a wide range of competences. CFR offers both outpatient alcohol and substance treatment, day treatment and substitution therapy.
For more information visit www.cfr.ikast-brande.dk.

About Monsenso
Monsenso is an innovative technology company offering a digital health solution used for decentralised trials, remote patient monitoring and treatment support. Our mission is to contribute to improved health for more people at lower costs by supporting treatment digitally and leveraging patient-reported outcomes data. Our solution helps optimise the treatment and gives a detailed overview of an individual’s health through the collection of outcome, adherence, and behavioural data. It connects individuals, carers, and health care providers to enable personalised treatment, remote care, and early intervention. We collaborate with health and social care, pharmaceuticals, and leading researcher worldwide in our endeavours to deliver solutions that fit into the life of patients and health care professionals. To learn more visit  www.monsenso.com.

For further information about Monsenso contact:
Thomas Lethenborg
CEO
Monsenso
+45 21298827
Lethenborg@monsenso.com