Social support and public health promotion in ‘The man in a box’

In this short reflection, a story by Anton Chekhov is used to analyze the link between public health promotion and social support. Social support is important in overcoming mental health problems. However, social support might not always understand the problems someone has, or the person with mental health problems might not be able to express the problems he/she has. Public health promotion is important, because it helps family, friends and colleagues of people with mental health problems understand those problems, and helps those people with mental health problems express themselves toward family, friends and colleagues. This idea is illustrated by using the main character in a story by Anton Chekhov, who is presented as someone without any social support: he cannot express himself toward the townspeople, nor do the townspeople understand him. This short reflection ends with a reminder of the importance of public health promotion, to create understanding for mental health and thus increase access to social support.