What’s more, according to the social scientists, treating mental illness would have no net cost to the public purse because the economic benefits would exceed the initial costs.

They also suggest that the state should tackle prevalent mental health issues by expanding existing schemes in addition to implementing new measures, and go on to say more specifically that politicians should invest in a four-year curriculum called Healthy Minds.

Read more about the LSE’s research here.

Our view

At Deepdene Care we believe that for too long mental health has remained in the shadows of society as a taboo subject, leading it to go unaccounted for in government policy-making and budget allocation.

But this is all changing. Nowadays people are speaking more openly about mental health and it’s quite obvious that there is an enormous problem, preventing many people for enjoying life to the full.

With all this change, the government needs to adapt to the new factors that are evidently shaping how people experience life. It is no longer a fight for survival in developed countries, but a fight for happiness – and mental health is a major contributing factor to this particular battle.

Perhaps it would be naive of us to ask for a complete shift in mindset in terms of how we assess the success of our governments, which is currently based on economic growth. Because such a statement neglects the huge impact that factors like poverty have on mental health issues. Therefore any factor affecting overall standard of living should remain high on the agenda. After all, poverty and the subsequent stress it brings is a root cause of many mental health problems.

So then, maybe an alternative solution could be that our leadership combines wealth creation and wellbeing creation to create a plan with everyone in mind.

Essentially what this boils down to is what is more important to you: your happiness or your wealth? I’m sure the majority would choose the former, and, as we live in a democratic country, that means it should be of utmost importance to the government too.