Five On Friday: Born To Run

It has been quite a week for mental health -- from the Emmys to the UN General Assembly to the release of Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, Born to Run. Important mental health issues and milestones abound, and the lyrics of Springsteen's signature song "Born to Run" (also the title of his book) are prescient and poetic headings for our musings this week. 1. Everybody's out on the run tonight, but there's no place left to hide: You would have to be Sleeping Beauty or Rip Van Wrinkle not to know we have a global crisis of 21 million-plus refugees around the world. And part and parcel with this global refugee crisis reflects a greater global mental health crisis -- characterized by refugees suffering with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, as well as psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. This week, President Obama hosted a summit on the global refugee crisis during the UN General Assembly, and attendant countries pledged an additional 360,000 refugee resettlement spots and increased mental health care. This is a drop in the bucket, and as much as there's no place left to hide for the refugees (over half of whom are under 18 years of age), there is no hiding from this tragic state of world affairs for all of us. 2. "We're gonna get to that place where we really want to go." Ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all are 3 pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Mental health is related to each, a...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news