Commercial determinants of mental health

Salisbury vividly describes the challenges faced by general practitioners when supporting patients to lose weight.1 Against a backdrop including powerful commercial agencies, Salisbury likens it to “trying to dig the Channel Tunnel with a teaspoon.”In addition to physical health harms, mental ill health can also be caused by commercial agencies seeking to maximise the consumption of their products. Perhaps the starkest example of this is the estimated 400 deaths from suicide attributed to gambling in England each year.2 The mental health of many other people is harmed by suicidal thoughts and attempts, in addition to the stigma and damage to relationships associated with gambling. Yet the influence of the gambling sector seeps into many everyday settings, including schools.3Gambling—like other addictive products such as alcohol and tobacco—can trap people in a vicious circle of poverty.4 The cost of living crisis has brought renewed attention to the impact of poverty on mental…
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