Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Mental Health Outcomes: A Public Health Perspective

One of the major global public health problems continues to be mental health.Moreover, one of the most important risk factor for mental health is SES.Low SES is associated with mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse in individuals of all ages (adult and children).Through this review we will explore the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and mental health.It will be about the impact of social and economic variables on mental health.Such social and economic factors include income, education, employment, housing etc. Chronic stress as a result of finances, job and housing insecurity has become a major way through which poor mental health develops.Furthermore, limited access to resources and social support due to educational disadvantage and community-level deprivation increases mental health problems.The review further describes how social class inequalities compound limited access to quality mental health services.Lower socio-economic consumers face issues such as affordability, stigma, fragmented care, etc. in accessing good quality mental healthcare.From the public's health perspective, they should focus not just on clinical 'downstream' interventions but also on 'upstream' social determinants, such as poverty, education and job creation.(31 words) The policies aimed at improving access to mental health services and bolstering social support must be part of public health strategies to diminish the influence of socioeconomic factors on mental health.Through this review, we aim to enhance the knowledge, through which the need for systemic change for mental health equity will become evident.