MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION IS AT THE CORE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Despite positive trends in population physical health in Finland, similar progress has not been seen in mental health. Deteriorating mental health is the global health trend of our time. In every region of the world, younger generations are struggling (1). Promoting mental health must therefore be a key objective of any health policy. In the discussion of mental health, it is important to avoid conceptual confusion for the sake of clarity. Mental health is an umbrella term, encompassing mental wellbeing (a.k.a. positive mental health), mental health problems and mental disorders. For conceptual clarity, it needs to be kept in mind that most mental health problems, such as the presence of various common anxieties, mood symptoms or insomnia, do not necessarily fulfil the diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder. Consequently, an increase in mental health problems does not necessarily translate into an increase in mental disorders. Several Finnish studies show an increase in mental health problems. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare's (THL) Healthy Finland Survey 2022-2023 study showed that psychological distress remains high in the population even after the coronavirus pandemic (2). The proportion of working-age Finns experiencing significant mental stress had risen to one fifth and suicidal thoughts had become more common. Mental health problems were highest among young women with low education. The national School Health Promotion survey 2023 with over 250,000 respondents aged 11-18 showed that more young people, especially girls, are experiencing anxiety and depression. In 2023, one third of girls reported moderate or severe anxiety. Anxiety had particularly increased among secondary school girls compared to previous school surveys (3). Preliminary results from 2025 indicate that the negative trend has prevailed (4).