Question

How does poverty contribute the physical, and mental health of individuals?

Answer 1

• An overwhelming majority of people with mental and psychosocial disabilities are living in poverty, poor physical health, and are subject to human rights violations.
• Living in poverty can mean:
• having problems in getting your basic needs met and accessing decent housing, health services and schools and life long learning opportunities;
• living in an unsafe neighbourhood with high levels of crime and violence and poor environmental conditions or in a remote and isolated rural area;
• going without very basic necessities because you may not be able to afford essential utilities like water, heat and electricity or to buy healthy food or new clothing or to use public transport;
• being unable to afford to buy medicines or visit the dentist;
• living from day to day with no savings or reserves for times of crisis such as losing a job or falling ill and thus falling into debt;
• being exploited and forced into illegal situations;
• experiencing racism and discrimination;
• being unable to participate in normal social and recreational life such as going to the pub or cinema or sports events or visiting friends or buying birthday presents for family members.
• All these things creates mental and physical problems for the people,since they feel helpless without money.Unemployment leads to poverty,which makes the depressed that they cannot provide food or even proper education to their children.Since because of poverty,people suffer from malnutrition it also produces dangerous physical diseases and impairments,and moreover they dont even have money for treatments which affects the mental health of the person as well.
• Poverty can lead to drug abuse which hinders mental and the physical well being even further.Poverty does creates pressures on people,since they feel powerless without financial aid,because of which some succumb to it and suffer mental and physical impairments,whereas some just live with it and accept their fate.