public health research topics on mental health

Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.

Información en español

Research Funded by NIMH

Research conducted at nimh (intramural research program), priority research areas.

Research Resources

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders, supporting research that aims to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research. Learn more about NIMH-funded research areas, policies, resources, initiatives, and research conducted by NIMH.

Notify the NIMH Press Team about NIMH-funded research that has been submitted to a journal for publication, and we may be able to promote the findings.

NIMH Strategic Plan

The NIMH Strategic Plan for Research outlines the Institute's research goals and priorities over the next five years. Learn more about the Strategic Plan.

NIMH supports research at universities, medical centers, and other institutions via grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Learn more about NIMH research areas, policies, resources, and initiatives:

The Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP) is the internal research division of the NIMH. Over 40 research groups conduct basic neuroscience research and clinical investigations of mental illnesses, brain function, and behavior at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Learn more about research conducted at NIMH:

Resources for Researchers

NIMH Women Leading Mental Health Research

Diversity in the scientific workforce enhances excellence, creativity, and innovation. NIMH and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are committed to increasing diversity in the scientific workforce. Learn more about early-career women scientists whose NIMH-funded research is playing a role in advancing our mission of transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Brain and Mental Health

Couples therapy, brain-mental-health--couples-therapy.jpg.

A young happy couple talking and smiling by a lake.

Based on over 30 years of research funded by the NIH, the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program is the most widely used, empirically based approach to helping couples build emotional safety and effectively manage issues and conflict.

Image credit: Daniel Soñé/NCI

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Brain-mental-health--obsessive-compulsive-disorder.jpg.

Woman in a garden smiling at the camera.

NIH-funded research led to the development of exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which was once thought to be untreatable. With improvement in symptoms in over half of patients, ERP is now the first treatment therapists turn to for OCD.

Image credit: National Institute on Aging, NIH

brain-mental-health--phobias.jpg

Two people riding on a bus smiling at each other.

Developed in part thanks to NIH research, exposure therapy is now considered the gold standard for treating phobias. For those who complete treatment, 80-90% report their fear significantly reduced or completely eliminated.

brain-mental-health--depression.jpg

This High Angular Resolution Diffusion Image (HARDI) of the human brain shows long distance connections, or tracts. Wiring associated with particular brain structures share the same color.

Through NIH-funded research and clinical trials, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is now the gold standard behavioral treatment for depression.

Image credit: Viviana Siless, Ph.D., Anastasia Yendiki, Ph.D., MGH/Harvard, Boston Adolescent Neuroimaging of Depression and Anxiety (BANDA)

brain-mental-health--psychosis.jpg

NIH-supported research led to more effective methods of treatment for early-stage psychosis and schizophrenia. More than 14,000 people per year in the U.S., are treated for schizophrenia using these best practices, and they experience substantially improved quality of life.

Image credit: Darryl Leja, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH

Mental Health Treatment

Brain-mental-health--mental-health-treatment.jpg.

NIH-supported research on addiction has informed public health policies, such as the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MPHAEA), which requires insurance providers to give the same coverage for substance use disorders and other mental illnesses as for other medical illnesses.

Image credit: Photo by Fortune Vieyra on Unsplash

Mood Stabilizers

Brain-mental-health--mood-stabilizers.jpg.

Woman standing outside and smiling at the camera.

NIH played a significant role in the development of the mood stabilizer lithium carbonate—one of the first medications used successfully to treat several psychiatric disorders—that continues to be used around the world today. Informed by NIH-supported research, current practice guidelines for bipolar disorder now include mood stabilizer medication as the first-line treatment.

Deep Brain Stimulation

Brain-mental-health--deep-brain-stimulation.jpg.

NIH made significant contributions to the development of deep brain stimulation (DBS), a treatment that can offer patients relief from symptoms in Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders. By 2021, more than 200,000 DBS devices were estimated to have been implanted worldwide.

Image credit: Andrew Janson, Butson Lab, University of Utah

Dementia Biomarkers

Brain-mental-health--dementia-biomarkers.jpg.

Two older men speaking to each other while holding pool cues.

Before the early 2000s, the only sure way to know whether a person had Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia was after death through autopsy. Thanks to NIH-supported research, tests are now available to help doctors identify biomarkers—biological indicators of disease—associated with these diseases in a living person.

Stroke Awareness

Brain-mental-health--stroke-awareness-cropped.jpg.

Poster that says “Know the Signs of Stroke” with street signs listing stroke symptoms include trouble walking, seeing and/or speaking, and weakness on one of side of the body. Getting treatment within 60 minutes can prevent disability.

Each year in the U.S. people have more than 800,000 strokes. NIH has worked to increase public awareness around stroke through the Know Stroke campaign, which has reached millions of people.

Image credit: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH

Stroke Treatment

Brain-mental-health--stroke-treatment-cropped.jpg.

Illustration of an ischemic stroke, which occurs when a brain blood vessel gets blocked. The unblocked blood vessels in the head are represented in red and the blocked vessels in gray. The gray area represents brain tissue that is not receiving nutrients.

NIH played a major role in the development of the clot-busting medicine tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which was the first treatment for strokes caused by blood clots and remains a frontline therapy. Approved by FDA in 1996, tPA transformed stroke care to enable rapid intervention and was an impetus for future treatments.

This page last reviewed on March 1, 2023

Connect with Us

More Social Media from NIH

Feature stories

In recent years, there has been increasing acknowledgement of the important role mental health plays in achieving global development goals, as illustrated by the inclusion of mental health in the Sustainable Development Goals. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely – as much as two decades early – due to preventable physical conditions.

Despite progress in some countries, people with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination, and stigma.

Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at relatively low cost, yet the gap between people needing care and those with access to care remains substantial. Effective treatment coverage remains extremely low.

Increased investment is required on all fronts: for mental health awareness to increase understanding and reduce stigma; for efforts to increase access to quality mental health care and effective treatments; and for research to identify new treatments and improve existing treatments for all mental disorders. In 2019, WHO launched the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health (2019-2023): Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health to ensure access to quality and affordable care for mental health conditions in 12 priority countries to 100 million more people.

In 2022, WHO launched the World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental health for All.

Mental health conditions are increasing worldwide. Mainly because of demographic changes, there has been a 13% rise in mental health conditions and substance use disorders in the last decade (to 2017). Mental health conditions now cause 1 in 5 years lived with disability. Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental health condition, with suicide the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. Approximately one in five people in post-conflict settings have a mental health condition.

Mental health conditions can have a substantial effect on all areas of life, such as school or work performance, relationships with family and friends and ability to participate in the community. Two of the most common mental health conditions, depression and anxiety, cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year.

Despite these figures, the global median of government health expenditure that goes to mental health is less than 2%.

WHO works with Member States and partners to improve the mental health of individuals and society at large. This includes the promotion of mental well-being, the prevention of mental disorders, and efforts to increase access to quality mental health care that respects people’s human rights. In 2019, WHO launched the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health (2019-2023): Universal Health Coverage for Mental Health to ensure access to quality and affordable care for mental health conditions in 12 priority countries to 100 million more people.

WHO’s mental health activities cover normative activities and country support activities. WHO has helped extend mental health care in more than 110 countries and is active in the following areas: integration in general health care (through the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, mhGAP) and in disease or topic-specific programmes such as those for HIV, tuberculosis and gender-based violence; suicide prevention; workforce development for mental health; promotion of the quality of care and the rights of people receiving care (QualityRights); mental health policy and legislation; mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian emergencies; development and testing of innovative psychological interventions including digital interventions; mental health in the workplace; mental health economics; the mental health of children and adolescents; and mental health promotion.

WHO rolls out new holistic way to measure early childhood development

One-stop resource toolkit launched on refugee and migrant health

The International Council of Nurses endorses World Health Organization training programme on improving mental health

Unique Friendship Benches initiative inaugurated to promote mental health, featuring competing FIFA World Cup nations

Latest publications

Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) v1.0

The Global Scales for Early Development (GSED) is an open-access package specifically designed to provide a standardized method for measuring development...

UNICEF and WHO joint programme on mental health and psychosocial well-being and development of children...

Building on their respective expertise and experience, UNICEF and WHO are working together to accelerate action for children and adolescents’ mental...

Guidelines on mental health at work

An estimated 15% of working-age adults have a mental disorder at any point in time. Depression and anxiety are estimated to cost the global economy...

Mental health at work: policy brief

Work can be a protective factor for mental health, but it can also contribute to potential harm. All workers have the right to a safe and healthy environment...

Promoting rights-based policy & law for mental health

Ensuring a coordinated and effective mental health response in emergencies

Scaling up care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders: mhGAP

Improving the mental and brain health of children and adolescents

Transforming services and promoting human rights in mental health and related areas

Donors making a difference: building skills, building capacity

Scaling-up mental health and psychosocial services in war-affected regions: best practices from Ukraine

NCD Lab series: Working with children, families, and schools to tackle childhood obesity in Chile

NCD Lab series: building India's largest network of health promoting schools

Infographics

public health research topics on mental health

Bangladesh - WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health - updates and achievements 2022/2023

Philippines - WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health 2022

Intimate partner violence profoundly affects mental health

Jordan - WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health 2022

Using evidence and gap maps for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing

Sport For Health: Talking mental health

WHO special initiative for mental health - Zimbabwe

High-Level Event on Mental Health Prevention and Promotion in Schools and Educational Settings

SIDS ministerial conference on NCDs and mental health

SIDS High-level technical meeting on NCDs and mental health

World Mental Health Day 2022 - Make mental health & well-being for all a global priority

Country profiles

Submit your research

Start your submission and get more impact for your research by publishing with us.

Active senior woman concentrating while working on laptop

Author guidelines

Ready to publish? Check out our author guidelines for everything you need to know about submission, from choosing a journal and section to preparing your manuscript.

Front view portrait of African American man wearing lab coat and raising hand asking question while sitting in audience and listening to lecture on medicine

Editor guidelines

Reviewing a manuscript? See our editorial guidelines for everything you need to know about Frontiers’ peer review process.

Smiling colleagues doing research over laptop computer on desk in office

Peer review

Our efficient and rigorous peer review means you’ll get a decision on your manuscript in just 77 days.

Interior of a library with desks and bookshelves

Publishing fees

Article processing charges (APCs) apply to articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors, following rigorous peer review.

wulf rössler

Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Berlin , Germany

Specialty Chief Editor

shuntaro ando

The University of Tokyo

Bunkyo , Japan

Associate Editor

s. m. yasir arafat

Enam Medical College

Dhaka , Bangladesh

getinet ayano

Curtin University

Perth , Australia

Brief Research Report

Accepted on 02 Mar 2023

Family Factors to Predict Adolescents' Emotional Health by Decision Tree Model: A Comparison Between Normally Developed Group and Chronic-Condition Group

in Public Mental Health

Original Research

A Participatory Study of College Students’ Mental Health during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Perspective

Using participatory action research methods to address epistemic injustice within mental health research and the mental health system

Automatic anxiety recognition method based on Weibo text analysis

Xiaoqian Liu

Research Topics

Submission open

New Approaches for Improving Equity in Mental Health Research, Treatment, and Policy

Women in Science: Public Mental Health 2023

Yuka Kotozaki

Mental Health Implication of New Psychosocial Environment at Work

Medical Emergencies in Psychiatry

Understanding Mental Health as a Public Health Issue

A therapist holds a notebook and talks to a couple.

Poor mental health not only affects a person’s ability to live a fulfilling life and carry on with their school, work, or familial responsibilities; it also can lead to physical and social problems with serious impacts. By advocating for prevention and developing effective interventions, public health professionals help individuals and communities combat mental health issues.

Mental Health as a Public Health Issue

Public health aims to promote healthy lifestyles, as well as to detect, prevent, and respond to diseases. The prevalence of mental health issues that affect individuals’ physical and social well-being makes dealing with mental health integral to achieving public health goals.

To begin with, mental health has a huge impact on how people relate to others, make decisions, and handle stress. People’s ability to live fulfilling lives often depends on their mental health. This makes protecting and restoring mental health of immediate concern to public health professionals.

Mental Health and Social Relationships

Poor mental health influences people’s relationships with their children, spouses, relatives, friends, and co-workers. Often, poor mental health leads to problems such as social isolation, which disrupts a person’s communication and interactions with others. This can have particularly harmful effects on children and adolescents whose development depends on forming bonds with their family members and peers. In adulthood, this social isolation can lead to family breakdown, divorce, or even childhood neglect.

Mental health problems frequently put financial and emotional strain on families. For example, a family trying to address a child’s mental illness may exhaust untold funds in search of treatment. Individual family members may also struggle to cope with their own symptoms that require support, such as depression or sleeping problems.

Children who have family members experiencing mental health problems may blame themselves. This can result in loneliness and feelings of being different. It may also lead to future behavioral or social problems. Additionally, as families address their loved ones’ mental health problems, they may socially isolate out of fear of judgment from others, further disrupting their emotional well-being.

Mental Health and Substance Misuse

A clear relationship exists between mental health issues and substance misuse. Each can lead to the other. In fact, one in four people with a serious mental illness also has a substance use disorder, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that people with mental health issues are also at greater risk of using nonprescription opioids.

People with mental illness consume substances that harm their health at higher rates than people without mental health issues, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Consider the following statistics: 37 percent of individuals with severe mental health issues smoke cigarettes, while only 16 percent of people without mental health issues smoke; nearly a third of adults with severe mental health issues are binge drinkers, compared to a quarter of people without mental health issues who report binge drinking.

Additionally, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports an increased risk for the development of substance use disorders among children and adolescents with mental disorders. The research shows that children develop mental health issues such as depression and anxiety before they develop substance use disorders, suggesting mental health issues lead to problems with alcohol and drugs.

Mental Health and School

Evidence suggests that poor mental health affects people’s educational success. Many students experiencing mental health issues struggle to form positive relationships with their teachers. They may also find it difficult to concentrate, feel motivated, or follow school rules. This often results in disciplinary measures that can interrupt their learning process.

According to the Child Mind Institute, the suspension/expulsion rate for students with emotional disturbances, for example, is 64 percent. Additionally, every year nearly 28,000 students with mental health issues and other health issues drop out of school. These individuals who drop out are 63 times more likely to end up in jail than college graduates. People with no high school diploma also live 9.2 years less than high school graduates.

Public health professionals know that education levels play an important role in many aspects of a person’s wellness and quality of life. In fact, greater levels of health correlate with higher levels of education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the mortality rates of people with some college are half of those of people who never attend college. Rates of diabetes and asthma are also lower for people who attain higher levels of education.

Mental Health and Work

Mental health issues can also lead to struggles at work. Mental health issues often reduce concentration, which can compromise a person’s productivity. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that difficulty focusing often accompanies depression. Reduced productivity can limit one’s ability to earn promotions, excel, and build successful relationships with supervisors and co-workers, which ultimately affects job satisfaction. Mental health issues can also lead to increased absenteeism at work. This can result in job loss or reduced hours, which affects a person’s ability to earn a living.

Job loss can result in the loss of health insurance, and the loss of health insurance reduces people’s access to health care, which can result in untreated health conditions and the inability to receive preventive care. A diminished ability to earn a living can also lead to poverty, which affects people’s ability to find housing and receive a quality education, among other things.

Mental Health and Physical Wellness

Mental health issues influence the onset, development, and effects of physical illnesses. Often, high-risk behaviors such as substance misuse and physical inactivity correlate with poor mental health. Research also indicates that mental illness could reduce life expectancy by 20 years, according to a 2019 study published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study found people with depression have a 40 percent higher chance of developing cardiac disease, hypertension, stroke, and diabetes than the general population. In addition, the study found that mental illness can reduce life expectancy by up to 20 years. Such statistics highlight that public health and mental health are two sides of the same coin.

Mental Health and Marginalized Communities

Marginalized communities consistently experience worse mental health than other communities for preventable reasons. Racial, gender, and sexual minorities, as well as people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, often find themselves particularly hard hit by mental health issues.

Case in point, Black individuals make up about 12 percent of the US population, but as a result of historical social, economic, and political inequalities, they comprise around 40 percent of those who are homeless, 50 percent of those who are incarcerated, and 45 percent of the children in foster care. Homelessness, prison, and experience in the foster care system all increase a person’s probability of having a mental health condition. As such, Black individuals are often at greater risk for mental illness than others. Consider the following additional mental health disparities among marginalized communities reported by the American Psychiatric Association:

Factors contributing to mental health disparities among marginalized communities include limitations to health care access and negative perceptions about mental health treatment.

Poor Access to Mental Health Care Services

Marginalized communities face many barriers to receiving needed mental health care. For one, individuals from these communities are overrepresented in jobs that do not provide health insurance. Without health insurance, few can afford any type of mental health care service.

Historically, people from marginalized backgrounds with insurance have encountered discrimination when receiving care or disparate treatment. For instance, Black individuals are offered medication and therapy for their mental health issues at lower rates than the general population, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

A lack of cultural competency among mental health care providers can diminish the quality of care marginalized individuals receive as well. According to Mental Health America, the fact that less than 2 percent of American Psychological Association members are Black makes it especially difficult for Black individuals to receive culturally competent care. Organizations that influence treatment approaches need more reflective representation within their ranks to expand marginalized communities’ access to mental health care.

Therapeutic relationships depend on understanding and comfort. A lack of diverse representation in the mental health field can limit both and makes it harder for mental health professionals to understand their patients’ identities and address them openly.

Finally, language barriers and implicit bias can interfere with access to mental health services, resulting in individuals giving up on treatment or not recovering completely. Additionally, many marginalized people have fewer mental health professionals in their communities, which can pose challenges to accessing care as well.

Cultural Stigmas and Negative Perceptions About Mental Illness

Cultural stigmas and negative perceptions about mental illness can discourage individuals from getting help. Attitudes about mental health issues vary among different communities. Both religious ideas and cultural perceptions can shape how people feel about getting mental health care.

Sometimes these ideas and perceptions stigmatize mental illness, which can prevent people from seeking treatment for themselves or loved ones. In some cases, communities may discourage men from showing any signs of weakness. This can result in reticence among men to seek needed mental health treatments.

Understanding different cultural perceptions about mental health is key to developing culturally sensitive programs and services accessible to members of all communities.

The Role of Public Health Professionals in Promoting Mental Health

Public health professionals play a key role in tackling the factors that adversely influence mental health. Addressing a community’s well-being requires a comprehensive approach. To promote mental health, public health professionals find ways to prevent mental disorders, improve access to mental health services, support recovery, and lower the rate of death, disease, and disability among those with mental illnesses. They also work to increase awareness of mental health issues and reduce stigmas, so people can get the treatment they need. Finally, they strive to eliminate health disparities and provide equitable access to health services.

Prevention and Intervention

Public health professionals develop programs that address the factors that contribute to poor mental health or focus on intervention methods known to foster good mental health. Identifying risk factors for mental illness, such as trauma and chronic health conditions, plays an important role in implementing prevention programs. Identifying risk factors also allows for early intervention. Examples of prevention and intervention strategies that can promote mental health include early childhood programs, programs for older adults, and violence prevention initiatives.

Early Childhood Programs

Early childhood intervention programs for at-risk children offer stable, emotionally supportive environments, learning opportunities, and interactions that stimulate development. These efforts help positively shape the architecture of children’s brains and can improve their chances of experiencing sound mental health throughout their lives.

The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) program, for example, helps families and adults who work with young children strengthen their ability to cultivate healthy environments that support a child’s social and emotional development. The program aims to respond before intervention is required.

IECMHC brings mental health consultants to childcare centers, homes, and preschools where they may engage in the following:

Programs for Older Adults

Programs that support older populations who face isolation may offer social activities, interactions with the community, and assistance dealing with other social and emotional issues. Such programs offer vital support to older adults, 20 percent of whom experience some kind of mental health issue, according to the CDC.

A recent study published by the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health found the most effective mental health intervention programs for older adults tend to have certain characteristics in common:

The National Council on Aging lists several programs that can improve older adults’ mental well-being:

Violence Prevention Initiatives

The American Public Health Association reports that violence significantly harms children’s development and affected communities’ health. In addition to causing physical harm, violence and associated trauma negatively impact behavioral and mental health. In fact, trauma has been linked to substance misuse and self-injury, as well as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Programs that challenge social norms, reduce risk factors for violence, and cultivate resilience help improve a community’s health. For instance, in some communities, attitudes about a woman’s sexual purity and family honor have led to violent acts. Violence prevention initiatives can take on such ideas and make it harder to justify violent behavior on the basis of a social norm.

Whether addressing intimate partner violence or firearm violence, evidence-based programs can have an impact on this public health issue. The CDC offers recommendations for effective approaches to prevent every type of violence. Some proven strategies for addressing intimate partner violence include:

In addition to specialized approaches to the different types of violence, the CDC focuses on strategies that apply to addressing all types of violence:

Policy Advocacy

Public health professionals can fight for policies that foster mental health and allow people living with mental illness to thrive. A public health advocate might work to reduce homelessness and incarceration rates — circumstances that exacerbate mental illness and disproportionately affect people with mental illness. Public health advocates work to change systems that perpetuate mental health problems and the undignified treatment of people with mental illnesses.

A group of mental health organizations including Mental Health America and the National Council for Behavioral Health recently sent a letter to Congress advocating for policies that address mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the letter exhorted Congress to:

Mental Health Research

To identify comprehensive prevention strategies and intervention methods, public health professionals need evidence. When professionals conduct research through a public health lens, they uncover the evidence they need to develop the most effective approaches to prevention and treatment. Research also identifies causes of mental health problems, informing public health professionals’ work in policy advocacy, prevention, and treatment. Research illuminates the public health professional’s understanding of mental health at the individual and community level. Whether studying suicide using an epidemiological approach or examining social media’s effects on self-image, research offers public health professionals important insights.

Earn a Master of Public Health and Tackle Mental Health Disparities

Mental health issues put people at a disadvantage. Not only do mental health issues compromise people’s well-being, they levy social and physical consequences as well. To help individuals and communities foster their individual strengths, gain access to care, and address disparities related to poor mental health, public health professionals need empathy, as well as expertise in the best intervention and prevention strategies. Explore how Tulane University’s Online Master of Public Health program equips graduates to tackle mental health disparities and build healthier communities.

Request Information

Get important details about Tulane's Online MHA, MPH, MSPH, and DrPH programs, such as admission requirements, your financial aid options, and how to apply.

Annual Meeting

Mental Health

Topics & Issues

Mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." Several barriers to mental health care make it difficult for everyone to achieve their best mental health. APHA supports efforts to improve access to care and put mental health on par with physical health.

The Affordable Care Act expanded mental health coverage, made it illegal to deny insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, including mental illness, and expanded parity. Parity means health plans must put mental health and substance abuse treatment on equal terms with other medical and surgical care. APHA supports parity as a step toward equity in health and treatment. We also speak out about the need for improved access to mental health care to help address such problems as gun violence and suicide .

Why is mental health a public health issue?

RECOMMENDATIONS

To achieve true parity in mental health coverage and access to care, policymakers at the state and federal levels should:

Community members and consumers should:

Be educated about mental health parity and your state laws surrounding parity requirements.

Public health agencies should:

Addressing mental health and well-being in the time of COVID-19:

Check out our recorded webinar: " Making the Connection: Climate Changes Mental Health "

Learn more about APHA's Mental Health Section .

Visit APHA's suicide topics page .

Find more at mentalhealth.gov and from the National Institute of Mental Health . Also, the non-profit organization Affordable Colleges Online offers three guides: Promoting Student Wellness , Substance Abuse in College and Suicide Prevention in College .

Cumulative Effect of Racial Discrimination on the Mental Health of Ethnic Minorities in the UK

Disparities in Mental Health Referral and Diagnosis in the NYC Jail Mental Health System

Unequal Burdens of Loss: Examining the Frequency and Timing of Homicide Deaths Experienced by Black Men Across the Life Course

Mental Health Recovery in Patient-Centered Medical Homes

Brief Intervention and Follow-Up for Suicidal Patients With Repeat Emergency Department Visits Enhances Treatment Engagement

Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms

Mental Health Treatment Patterns Among Adults With Recent Suicide Attempts in the United States

Aggressive Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men

Community Violence Perpetration and Victimization Among Adults With Mental Illnesses

From APHA Press

Depression: How You Can Help

Reaching out to someone who may be depressed

Help With Grief

Coping with death: help with grieving after loss

Thesis Helpers

Find the best tips and advice to improve your writing. Or, have a top expert write your paper.

230 Current Mental Health Research Topics For Top Dissertation

Mental health characterizes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It involves the taking of multiple approaches to care for these different areas.

Medical news today notes that our mental health determines how we handle stress, relate to other people, and make healthy and articulate choices.

Mental health research is fast becoming one of the most researched areas in health. With this, so many research works can be chosen from this field. Therefore, as a student writing your essay on mental health, you must conduct extensive research for sufficient information.

Structure Of Mental Health Research Paper Or Essay

Students often have ample information on the chosen mental health nursing research topics, but the challenge they often encounter is properly arranging these topics to communicate knowledge effectively. We’ve prepared a mental illness research paper outline to improve your research paper.

By using this structure your thesis or dissertation will be way more clear.

Characteristics Of Mental Health Essay

How do you recognize a good essay? How do you know that everyone will welcome your contributions to the mental health essays? It would help if you considered these tips:

This brief guide should help you have an idea of what a professor is looking for. And now here is a helpful list of topics to consider when writing your bachelor thesis or about mental health in general:

Research Questions About Mental Health

Since the subject, mental health is quite vast and includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being, below are some of the best mental health research questions that allow the student to focus on a particular field of research.

Mental Health Research Paper Topics

Mental health is the psychological and emotional part of human health. Good mental health suggests good cognitive, behavioral, and emotional wellbeing. The following mental health research topics will provide multiple avenues for students to base their research topics on:

Mental Health Topics To Write About

Your mental health deals with several health disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders. In case your mental health research topics are based on the categorical aspects of mental health, the following are research topics on mental health that you can write about:

Mental Illness Research Paper Topics

Mental illness is a range of mental conditions that affect the mind, how we think, our behaviors. If you’ve been looking for the best mental illness research paper topics, your search stops here. Find below mental illness topics to help with your research:

Research Topics In Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a vast field of study in medicine. Any psychiatry topics must make the research journey more straightforward. That said, the following are interesting topics in psychiatry:

Research Topics In Mental Health Nursing

Mental health nursing is a highly essential field of study that should be considered:

Critical Analysis Research Paper Topics In Mental Health

The following are some critically analyzed paper topics in mental health that will make your research more accessible and give more depth to your essay.

Good Research Questions About Mental Health

Good research questions must be willing to provide concise and thorough answers. Over time, researchers have generated questions that border on mental health that have proven highly effective.

Mental Illness Thesis Ideas

By nature, there are several mental illness thesis ideas you can explore. The following are proven great thesis ideas that concern mental health.

Need Help With Your Thesis?

Suppose you are a college or university student who needs high-level advanced psychology dissertation help in preparing for your thesis deadlines and require thesis help from experts in this field. Be assured that we have professional writers online who are professors, teachers, and native writers from various fields. They can assist you in preparing high-quality research works, proofreading, editing, and writing services, all at a cheap rate. You can be sure of custom-written works that will secure you high grades.

Make PhD experience your own

public health research topics on mental health

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS