The World Mental Health Day is celebrated every 10th of October annually for raising the level of awareness and education about global mental health and advocating against the social stigma associated with mental disorders.
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Date of World Mental Health Day Observance
10th of October.History of World Mental Health Day
Initially, the World Federation of Mental Health had taken an initiative to celebrate the first Mental Health Day on 10 October 1992. Abbreviated as WFMH, this is a global Mental Health Organisation that has Association with more than 150 countries to its contacts and members.
In 1992 and 1993 the event was celebrated without any specific theme and the activities addressed only the general mental health-related issues to educate people.
In 1994 the Secretary-General Eugene Brody suggested observing the events with a specific theme and it happened so for the first time in history. The first theme of the World Mental Health Day revolved around improving the quality of mental health services around the world.
World Mental Health Day Celebration
The World Health Organisation, also abbreviated as WHO, supports the World Mental Health Day along with worldwide ministries of health in Civil Society organizations through raising the awareness and educational level about mental health-related issues.
For this event, the technical and communication material is developed and processed across the globe.
The thousands of people come together and join hands to celebrate the annual awareness programs that throw light on mental illness disorders and their effects and impacts on general people's lives.
Countries such as Australia celebrate World Mental Health Day as a part of mental health week. These nations observe the events and activities throughout the awareness week.
Why is World Mental Health Day Celebrated?
The day comes with an opportunity to consolidate all the aspects of the mental Healthcare system and implement and execute a properly formulated plan and strategies to improve the mental health of overall populations around the world.
It deals with the following aspects:
- Country-wise epidemiology of mental disorders
- Available treatment options
- Areas with Research and reporting is needed
- Raise in the level of Mental Health education
- Social financial and political aspects and structures related to the mental health care system
- The issues related to human rights among others
- The role of human resources in mental health
Significance of World Mental Health Day
The overall aim of marking World Mental Health Day revolves around strengthening global mental health by providing informational facts and figures about the mental health situation of all the countries around the world. The authorities also try to develop cost-effective interventions as per the identified Mental Health Care needs so that the specific requirements can be met.
Who was Man?
The first observations of the world Mental Health Day were the result of the initiative taken by Deputy Secretary-General Richard Hunter.
Interesting Facts and Figures about World Mental Health Day
- Do you know that about 1 million people kill themselves every year and fall into the category of dying due to suicide?
- Among young people, suicide is a third leading cause of death.
- In middle- and low-income countries, about 19.1 % of disabilities due to health conditions belong to the causes such as:
- Unipolar depression
- Schizophrenia
- Bipolar depression
- Unipolar Depression
- Dementia
- Alcoholism
- The majority of the above situations are directly or indirectly associated with mental health-related challenges.
- It is estimated that approximately 1 out of 4 people get affected by neurological disorders or mental diseases at a point in their lives in the world.
- There are many effective interventions that are available for treatment nowadays. Regardless of this fact, the most concerning factor is having the Awareness of the need of treating mental disorders. The proportion of those who need the treatment for the mental disorder and those who receive is very high.
- The rate of treatment gap in low and middle-income countries is estimated Tu to be in the range of 76 to 85%. In the case of high-income countries, it is 35 to 50%.
- As per the estimation by the World Health Organisation in 2011, the world faces a shortage of about 1.18 million professionals in mental Healthcare.
Themes
World Mental Health Day Challenges
The global mental health movement has been criticized as:
- A missionary and neocolonial project
- A platform for pharmaceutical companies, medical businesses, and professionals to seek new potential clients for psychiatric drugs.
An Appeal
For taking the most effective steps towards decreasing the global burden of cases related to mental illness and disorders, there is a need for us all to realize and accept that:
Mental illness is just like any other disease which needs careful attention and medical help.
It can be treated and cured if taken the medical help on time.
In the present era, when people are leaning more and more towards the isolated lifestyle, the mental health issues have found significant is space to grow and nurture. In such a scenario, the prevention of mental health has emerged as one of the prime global issues of concern.
Let's stand like a wall in front of the stigma associated with mental illness and disorders. Let's fight it like a collective force at both personal and social levels so that it can be diminished from the root. Be courageous and make significant changes in your lifestyle and the surrounding. We humans do not belong to the messed and confused state of mind; we are made to grow with peace and joy. Let's make sure to maintain it within and around!
