Wellbeing
There is no health without mental health.
Mind and body
Achieving a good state of wellbeing is what we strive to achieve in all of our projects, whether they focus on physical health, psychosocial support or disease prevention. Our projects are not successful if they do not promote wellbeing and mental health. Physical health cannot be separated from mental health; when you feel unwell, you may also feel sad and unmotivated, particularly if you cannot access the care that you need.
Wellbeing and good mental health do not necessarily mean being free from having a mental disorder. Wellbeing is when you feel good in yourself, in your mind and in your body, and having a healthy state of mind is essential for people to be able to cope with, recover from and (re)build their lives after the atrocities of war, disaster, violence and crises. However psychosocial support and mental health services are often forgotten about, scarce or disrupted in countries affected by conflict.
Factors that affect poor mental health are all seen in the countries where we work. Lack of employment, food insecurity, poor access to healthcare, poor education, poverty, social exclusion, poor housing. These are all issues that affect your mental health and wellbeing.
What is mental health and psychosocial support?
MHPSS refers to any type of support that protects or improves psychosocial wellbeing, or prevents and treats mental health conditions.
We work on 4 different levels to support good wellbeing and mental health
1) ensuring basic services are available and accessible,
2) activating social networks and community activities,
3) providing non-specialised mental health services - this includes one-on-one and group treatment with primary healthcare staff and community volunteers,
4) improving access to specialised services for people who require further treatment or consultations.
Our mental health professionals are our community health workers, teachers, community leaders and psychosocial focal points, as well as doctors and medical staff. These people are vital to our projects and provide psychosocial support in their communities, through their schools and alongside ‘physical’ healthcare in local health facilities and hospitals.