This year, the 1st of February marks what’s known as Time to Talk Day in the UK; an annual awareness day dedicated to starting a nationwide conversation about mental health. The event, run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, is a particularly important one for some 20 million people (one in three UK adults) who, per the latter’s own research, “never speak about mental health.”
And as compounding crises continue to trample on Britons’ sense of stability and security, the holiday also comes at a very pivotal time for the nation hoping to preserve people’s health and wellbeing as they tread further into a new year filled with the same old uncertainties from the year last…mixed in with some new concerns as well.
State of Mental Health in the UK: Prevalent Yet Unacknowledged
According to the latest polls, nearly four in every five people in the UK have suffered a massive blow to their mental health as a result of the ongoing cost of living crisis, while a whopping 95 per cent of those with existing mental health problems claim that their symptoms have worsened. Even in better times, researchers estimate that one in three UK adults have, are, or will face mental health challenges in their lifetime, underscoring the clear and growing demand for not just conversations about mental health, but for tangible support as well.
Unfortunately, what research also demonstrates is a universal, steadfast unwillingness to talk about mental health issues, let alone seek help. As per another survey by Rethink Mental Illness, a whopping 90 percent of people believe that discrimination against people with mental health issues is widespread across the UK; resultantly, three in five people will not seek help for their mental health out of concern for how they may be perceived or treated by others, while many more will stray from ever disclosing their mental health status to those closest to them.
This is especially the case in the workplace, where the overwhelming majority of employees believe that colleagues with mental health issues are treated differently, and where three-quarters of employees feel unable to disclose their mental health status at work out of fear that doing so would place them at risk of termination, retaliation or discrimination.
Where this gets everyone, in the end, is in a situation where treatment—even that which is available through one’s work—remains widely underutilised, even as cases of poor mental health continue to soar. People, understandably, don’t want to be identified as “mentally unwell” when such a label is associated with a legion of other, rather negative terms: “helpless,” “hopeless;” “lying,” “burdensome;” “annoying.”
In fact, some of the reasons most often given as to why someone will not seek help for their mental health issues include that the person does “not want to be a burden;” that the person knows that “everyone is going through something, it’s no big deal;” and that they just have to “toughen up and get over it.” No one wants to be seen as weak. No one wants to be seen as someone who can’t take care of themselves or be taken for someone who can’t be relied on. And going to therapy or going on medication are—at least seemingly—what fuel these perceptions.
The Power of the Digital Players: How Solutions like CBT Can Combat Stigma and Promote Better Wellbeing
That said, growing research has begun to outline some of the ways in which remotely-delivered (e.g., telephonic, text-, video-, or email-based) therapeutic interventions can succeed in providing the same level—if not an exemplary amount—of support as face-to-face interventions.
Firstly, when it comes to the issue of stigma, research shows that these interventions are particularly effective at overcoming this major obstacle to care by offering more privacy and increased client convenience with respect to location, time of appointment and duration of care, confidentiality and anonymity. Through a remote model of care, individuals no longer have to worry about how it is they might get to and from appointments; about arranging for backup child care; or about having to leave work early or arrive late—all of which increase the risk of (or need for) others finding out that they’re receiving help for their mental health.
Instead, individuals have the opportunity to participate in care from the comfort and privacy of their own homes, their cars or any other secure, preferred location; they can even opt to engage in care anonymously if they so choose, sharing only what they feel comfortable with. In this way, studies have underscored that such methods of care make treatment accessible to those who may not have otherwise received mental health care, be it due time constraints, family or work responsibilities, privacy issues or concerns about stigma.
Furthermore, however, research has also suggested that remotely-delivered interventions might even surpass the level of care provided by traditional face-to-face methods by way of increased client empowerment, a greater focus on client efficacy and autonomy, and a streamlined path to recovery. As one study notes, remotely-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), for example, often incorporates more “self-help materials” and “less-direct contact with therapists” as opposed to face-to-face CBT, making it more scalable to clients, but also more client-guided. As individuals take the lead in the therapeutic process, they start to build back their confidence; start to recognise and build upon their strengths—their own innate ability to help themselves and solve their problems; and restore their sense of agency.
As a result, clients also succeed in reducing their own internalised stigma toward mental health care, recognising it not as a crutch that someone who is powerless to take care of their own needs has to turn to, but as a helpful resource that someone who is, in fact, powerful and capable can mold and shape to their benefit. The narrative switches from mental health care as a need, to mental health care as a desire. With the ability to choose when, where and how to receive care, they also get to decide the why, directly combatting the stigma that those who are mentally unwell are “weak” or incapacitated.
And finally, driving home the notion that remotely-delivered interventions might even surpass those that are face-to-face in terms of quality of care, a panoply of research has also demonstrated how even just one session—one single phone call with a counsellor, or one text conversation with a live clinician—can provide satisfactory results for nearly 90 percent of clients, with three in every five clients going so far as to opt to complete their therapy in just the one session, even when more are available.
With that said, through this fast, solutions-oriented, and client-directed approach to care, “remote” (also: “virtual,” “digital,” “telephonic,”) solutions can not only allow clients to (a) work around the issue of stigma and (b) reduce stigma in themselves in order to receive professional care, but can also provide them with more effective, satisfactory care, which will only further work to enhance the appeal of mental health care at the populational level for the long-term.
