Good News | A new era for hearing aids and a significant rise in Spain’s mental healthcare budget

Last week was World Mental Health Day and to mark that, the Good News Round-up is focusing on positive stories around mental healthcare.

We have news about how international research on mental health is advancing; there’s been a significant rise in Spain’s mental healthcare budget; scientists in Singapore are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for the early detection of mental health disorders; a study that says that the more compliments you give the happier you’ll be, and a new era for hearing aids.

1. We are getting better at treating mental disorders

One of the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the huge toll it has taken on people’s mental health.

Rates of already common conditions such as depression and anxiety went up by more than 25 per cent in the first year of the pandemic.

The good news is that many countries have updated their national policies and strategies for mental health, says the WHO in its latest Mental Health Report.

The Spanish government, for example, recently announced a 67 per cent increase in Spain’s mental healthcare budget for 2023.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had previously presented an action plan to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, for which he allocated an amount of €100 million to cover the period from 2021 to 2024.

Countries such as Finland and Iceland have been teaching social-emotional skills in schools, and online programmes to support youth mental health in Australia, Norway, and the Netherlands. Canada has also made positive mental health promotion a priority with a dedicated Surveillance Framework.

In 2020 Australia doubled entitlement for sessions of psychological therapies. In 2021 Chile announced that the budget for mental health would