World Mental Health Day 2019

Look at this staggering, saddening and heart-wrenching statistic: ‘Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide’.

It is in the light of the above that there is a global need for all to rally in the scheduled campaign for the 10^th of October 2019. The rally is tagged, “40 seconds of action” to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it.

World Mental Health Day

The World Mental Health Day is a day organized by the World Federation for Mental Health, to help raise mental health awareness. It is a day for everyone to make a contribution to ensuring that people dealing with problems concerning mental health can live better lives with dignity.

The day is set aside as a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. This day, each October, thousands of supporters come to celebrate this annual awareness program to bring attention to mental illness and its major effects on peoples’ life worldwide.

World Mental Health Day 2019: Issues of Concern

Every year one adult in four, along with one child in ten, will have a mental health issue. These conditions can profoundly affect literally millions of lives, affecting the capability of these individuals to make it through the day, to sustain relationships, and to maintain work.

The stigma attached to mental health causes a damaging, albeit ill-informed, attitude, making it more difficult for those affected to pursue help. According to UK estimates, only about one-fourth of those with mental health problems undergo ongoing treatment. By stark contrast, the vast majority of those affected with these problems are faced with a variety of issues, ranging from isolation to uncertainty on where to get help or information, to relying on the informal support of family, friends or colleagues.

World Mental Health Day 2019: Raising Awareness

World Mental Health Day was celebrated for the first time on October 10, 1992, at the initiative of Deputy Secretary-General Richard Hunter. Up until 1994, the day had no specific theme other than general promoting mental health advocacy and educating the public. In 1994, however, World Mental Health Day was celebrated with a theme for the first time at the suggestion of then Secretary-General Eugene Brody. The theme was “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World.” The theme for the World Mental Health Day 2019 is: Focus on Suicide Prevention.

It is stated that the best way to deal with this stigma is through facts and a better understanding of mental health problems. From identifying the causes, pinpointing solutions, and ultimately recognizing that we are really dealing with medical issues.

World Mental Health Day themes

Below is a tabular presentation of the themes covered over time with regards to the World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is supported by WHO through raising awareness on mental health issues using its strong relationships with the Ministries of health and civil society organizations across the globe. WHO also supports developing technical and communication material.

In some countries, this day is part of an awareness week, such as Mental Health Week in Australia. This year’s Day is also supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and United for Global Mental Health

Source:

Who.int

Featured Image Source: Lundbeck

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jeremiah

Jeremiah is a scholar and a poet. He has a keen eye for studying the world and is passionate about people. He tweets at @jeremiahaluwong.

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