The Devastating Impact on Mental Health – “Discover the chilling reality of government cuts and their profound effect on mental health in our latest blog post. Explore the cascading impact these cuts have had on vulnerable individuals and communities, as we delve into the devastating consequences and urgent need for action. Gain insight into the far-reaching implications of reduced support systems and learn how we can come together to address this pressing mental health crisis.”
Jonathan Arenburg
Jonathan Arenburg (Owner and Chief content creator for The Road To Mental Wellness) is a Canadian mental health blogger, speaker, and published author. Retired from the fire service and long-term care fields, he has written and self-published an autobiographical account of his life-long battle with anxiety, depression and more recently, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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There’s more to it than one thinks.
As you all know, I lightly touch on the political elements that are harming our mental health. For example, Two-tiered mental-health care system. A post that talks about how it hurts the most vulnerable people in our society – the mentally ill. Or more specifically, those who are disadvantaged.
However, when you think about it, politics are at the core of much of the woes in society. A society in which they are elected to not only manage a nation, but to also improve it.
What’s more is the mentality that has been built up over time. One example I can think of, of this, is making deep cuts to everything. Dismantlement of government run programs has done nothing for the quality of life of our nations. In fact, cuts to the most essential services, like health care and mental health care have more than likely hurt more people – probably worse.
Read: Publicly Funded Mental Health Care
When it comes to a nation feeling sad, lonely, powerless, and anxious, cuts to essential services are one of the culprits of our feelings. Less mental health professionals mean less access, which means a potentially higher rate of suicide for example.
Moreover, many of the policies made around cuts to essential services for instance are made with a narrow lens. So, when a decision is made to close a health clinic, it not only hurts people, it also corrals the sick to the ER. A department that should be reserved for the direst of illness.
In case you needed another example, such policies dwindle resources. Nurses, doctors, mental health practitioners. From this point of view, we are expected to live with the policies that cause shortages, but if these same health professionals go on strike to try and improve the care they give to their patients, they are often legislated back to work as “essential services.”
So, which is it? If they’re deemed essential only when they try to improve their working conditions and care for their community, what does that say? What kind of message does that send? And perhaps more importantly, what does such a devaluing of our helpers do to our/their mental well-being?
When cuts occur, the word essential never comes up. Why is that?
Need help? Mental Health Resources Centre
Let me just say that I don’t think this is done with ill intent. From my view, I think, like anyone else, policy makers get caught up in false narratives like “cuts are a good cost cutting measure.” As you’ve seen from above, the cost to individuals and society is often higher. It’s wise to remember that short-term solutions rarely ever solve any given issue in the long run.
Checkout Al Levin’s Podcast, The Depression Files
I often tell politicians that I talk to this: “You are a politician until you are elected, then you are a leader”. This means people before politics.
The Mental Illness Effect
As someone who worked in public health for eighteen years, I know first-hand about the devastating impact on mental health of cutting essential staff. When I first started in healthcare, there was no such thing as overtime. Why? because we were fully staffed, and it was a great place to work. We felt safe, our efforts were valued, and when we got sick, we weren’t treated like world-class criminals for calling in.
By the time I left because of my mental health, our faces became our employee number, we could work as much overtime as we could get, and frankly, we felt so undervalued that we all felt destroyed. Calling in sick even working copious amounts of overtime was treated like a federal offense.
What was happening was we were literally killing our mental wellness. And for people who no longer cared about us.
Few get into healthcare for the money. We are a caring bunch. So, when you apply a corporate structure to health care, compassion goes out the door. Literally, it walks out the door. Sometimes because we’ve had enough but more often than not, it’s because of mental illness.
Stop by my podcast #thewellnesstalks and give me a follow
As you might imagine, this made us even more short and by extension more mentally ill. And to think, all because sitting governments mistakenly believed that cuts would save cash. In reality, the costs have been so much higher. All that overtime is just the obvious one. The other is of course all that sick time. It’s worth noting that sick time also rose because of the physical injury that came with working short. A fact that can also cause mental illness. And there you have it, more stress on mental health care systems.
Others include the stress it puts on the overall healthcare system/the mental health system, the loss to the economy because less and less people are working in healthcare itself, preferring lower pay for peace of mind, and so on.
Personally, I find it amazing to watch one false narrative destroy lives and cost way more to society than it saves. Watching my workplace go from happy helpers to mentally ill, was devastating for me. “Cover your own ass” became the norm and with it, the increase in a hostile and toxic work environment. Essentially, management and staff became enemies.
Are the workplace and mental illness incompatible?
When given some deep thought, one will start to see that the needs of the many really do outweigh the needs of the few. With fully funded health/mental health, we have a more national sense of safety. People who are cared for will work harder, be happier, and at the end of the day, less mentally ill.
It’s just that simple.
I am rooting for you all!
Jonathan
Buy The Road To Mental Wellness
Delve into the profound narrative of Jonathan Arenburg’s intimate dance with an unseen devil – mental illness. As a young child of four, his innocuous obsession with holding doors open for others might have unknowingly opened a door to a chilling adversary that nearly shattered his life, and undeniably altered its course forever. This invisible enemy, this lurking beast, if it had taken a physical form with claws, fiery breath, and predatory eyes, he believes he would have bolted the door shut even at such a tender age. Yet, it remained unseen, its true form shrouded in the shadows of the unknown.
Curious about this captivating journey? Jonathan Arenburg invites you to traverse the treacherous terrains of his mental health journey, marked by anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His tale is a gripping account, an essential read regardless of whether you grapple with these afflictions yourself or not. Increasing our understanding of these conditions is vital. It’s the first step towards creating change – for us, for our family, friends, and colleagues.
Kaitlyn Walker, an ardent reader, shares her thoughts:
“Exceptionally written, highly motivational, and thought-provoking! The author’s lived experiences paint a vivid picture in your mind, captivating you as he guides you through his journey. The narrative is laced with hope, tenacity, and a testament to the raw strength required to navigate mental health. This book is a potent illustration of the power in owning your mental health journey.”
The Road To Mental Wellness 
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