More counsellors will be needed

As mental health becomes destigmatised, support services will have to be ready

Is the health profession ready for mental illness to be taken as seriously as physical illness? (Getty Images)

With the stigma around mental illnesses finally beginning to erode, more people are feeling confident enough to ask for help. The flow-on effects of that, as our report yesterday noted, will include the need for more trained counsellors and a greater understanding by insurance companies that mental health is just as important as physical health.

As our columnist, Zayed University psychologist Justin Thomas, has consistently stated on these pages, counselling for mental health issues works best when the counsellor has a deep understanding of their patients’ culture. Unfortunately the stigma often seen in Emirati and Arab society that has inhibited people from seeking help is also reflected in a pronounced undersupply of trained counsellors from these communities.

But just like the counterproductive stigma that has affected mental health difficulties, this will not remain the same. Three years ago, Zayed University welcomed its first batch of psychology students. Dr Thomas, one of the lecturers in the course, said that Emirati society was changing, just like cultures all over the world, and this was seen in factors like rising divorce rates. This in turn will cause increased demand for skilled relationship counsellors and they will be most effective when their academic training is enhanced by several years of work experience.

The societal adjustment involved in mental health being perceived as being as important as physical health will have other ramifications, including with the way health insurance is administered. At present, a physical injury such as a broken leg is fully covered but the more nebulous nature of treating mental illness means there are often limits and conditions applied to it, including on the prescription of therapeutic drugs.

Just like the process of destigmatising mental health issues, the provision of adequate services for those who seek assistance will take time. But with demand expected to grow, it is an investment we need to be making now.