For a long time, health systems have treated mental illness as less serious than physical disease, often providing fewer services and longer waits. I completely agree that mental health problems should receive the same level of funding and attention as physical illnesses.
The main reason is that mental illness causes suffering that is just as real as physical illness. Severe depression or anxiety can make it impossible for a person to work, study or maintain relationships, and in the worst cases it can be life-threatening. Nobody would accept a patient with a broken leg being told to wait months for treatment, yet people with serious mental health conditions are frequently asked to do exactly that. Treating one kind of suffering as less deserving of care than another is neither logical nor fair.
Secondly, neglecting mental health is costly for society. When people do not receive timely treatment, their conditions often worsen, leading to long periods off work, family breakdown and sometimes homelessness. Mental and physical health are also closely connected, since people with long-term depression may find it harder to look after their diet, exercise or medication for other conditions. Investing in early support, such as counselling services in schools and workplaces, can therefore reduce the wider costs that arise when problems become severe.
Some people argue that physical illnesses are easier to diagnose and that their treatments have more predictable results, so funding them is a safer use of public money. However, talking therapies and medication already help many patients, and the difficulty of measuring mental illness is a reason to invest in research rather than to neglect it.
In conclusion, mental illness affects people's lives as seriously as physical disease and creates significant social and economic costs. Health systems should therefore give it equal funding and attention, so that every patient receives timely care.