The link between mental ill-health and poverty has received a lot of attention in the past two decades and it’s now well established that mental illness and poverty interact in a vicious cycle. It is a state of emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing – a multidimensional concept that is intrinsically linked to an individual’s social and economic environment. Mental health is often misconstrued as the absence of mental illness, but it is much more complex than that. Mental health and poverty are inextricably linked and leave many young people trapped in a vicious cycle that can limit their chances of a better life.īy Emily Garman, University of Cape Town, South Africa
