How will Brexit affect mental health?

As Theresa May takes the role of PM, it is time to look at how the vote could affect mental health patients in the UK. Will Brexit cause for a better future or would it see mental health trusts in the UK in shatters.

One in four of us will experience some kind of mental illness in our lifetime, meaning it is incredibly likely that everyone knows at least one person who suffers from mental health problems. The growing awareness of this has helped more people in the UK understand that mental illness is not a weakness.

In the build up to the 2015 General Elections, the Conservative party pledged that mental health issues would be given equal priority to physical health. They also pledged to more efficient waiting times for those in need, which has now been met in the light of a recent study that listed it as a priority. But if the EU vote leads the country to leave, how many of their policies are still possible?

Brexit could cut the budget for the already underfunded NHS. Mental health currently only receives 11% of the NHS budget, the smallest amount for any department.

Luciana Berger, the shadow minister for mental health told The Guardian Newspaper "the NHS is too important, and mental health services are too vital, the throw into the chaos of Brexit". She continues by saying leaving the EU, "would pose a serious rick to the wellbeing of the NHS itself, but also to those who rely on it."

A vote for Brexit will also cause the UK to no longer have to follow the laws of the, European court of human rights (ECHR), and the Human Rights Act. A largely publicised case in mental health was of a 16 year old, who was locked in a police cell because there were no mental health beds available in the entire country. ECHR ruled the situation to be in violation of article 3 (inhuman and degrading treatment). From cases like this The Mental Health Act was amended to stop for such situations happening again.

Unfortunately at the 2010 General Election only 14% of mental health inpatients in the UK voted. The change in attitudes from the younger generations mean it is important that the under 25's make sure they vote as they will feel the direct effect of the vote. The 2015 General Election had the highest ever turnout of young people.

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