Saturday was World Mental Health Day 2015, with the theme ‘Dignity in Mental Health’. With a reach into more than 150 countries, the day was dedicated to upholding the self-worth and equal rights of those living with mental health issues.
According to the World Health Organization, as many as 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have struggled with mental health disorders. In Western countries like the United Kingdom, where such matters are relatively well documented, up to 1 in 4 adults experience mental health problems each year. And the charity Time to Change states that 90% of people with mental health problems face stigma and discrimination.
A series of events took place across Africa and India, including in South Sudan, the world’s newest country, where there is only one practising psychiatrist. The day was marked locally throughout North America, for instance in Winnipeg, where Investors Group Field turned purple, and Charlottesville, where a variety show was held in a local church. China took the opportunity to vow to do more to help those suffering mental health problems. And in the United Kingdom, coverage of the day was dominated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who met with youngsters at Harrow College, London, in an event organised by the charity Mind.
Meanwhile The Guardian presented figures on the global impact of mental health in terms of years of life lost. And the Thomson Reuters Foundation presented a collection of features from Thailand, Cambodia, Gaza, Colombia, and Congo.
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World Mental Health Day, a day for global mental health awareness, education, and advocacy, was first observed on 10 October 1992. An initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, the day is supported by the World Health Organization, with whom the WFMH has always been closely affiliated: both organisations were founded in 1948, with the Canadian G. Brock Chisholm, the first Director General of the WHO, instrumental in forming the WFMH and serving as its President between 1957 and 1958.
Recent years have seen World Mental Health Day occupied by a range of themes, concepts, and gestures, from ‘Mealtimes’ and ‘Tea & Talk’, to ‘Mindfulness’, ‘Depression’, and ‘Schizophrenia’.
World Mental Health Day is one of a group of sometimes interlinked campaigns pertaining to mental health which run at the beginning of October. Mental Illness Awareness Week, established in the United States in 1990 by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, fell this year from 3-10 October. The week was highlighted by MTV, which has been promoting the hashtag #ChangeTheConversation (NAMI instead went with #IAmStigmaFree), while publishing a series of personal stories regarding experiences with mental health.
National Day Without Stigma, an initiative of Active Minds, was commemorated this year on 5 October. And National Depression Screening Day, organised by Screening for Mental Health, took place on 8 October. Held annually on the Thursday of the first full week in October, this year marked the 25th anniversary of the event, with a celebration planned for November in Boston.
The World Federation for Mental Health is set to hold its XXth World Congress over the coming week, from 16-19 October in Cairo, Egypt. With the topic of discussion ‘Mental Health in Times of Crisis’, the WFMH has prefaced the congress with a declaration and a call for action regarding the mental health of refugees, internally displaced persons, and other populations affected by conflict. The declaration states:
‘The UNHCR reported that “worldwide close to 80 million people are currently impacted by humanitarian emergencies arising from natural disasters and armed conflicts, such as those in the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, and more recently, Nepal. WHO estimates 5% to 10% of these people suffer from a mental health condition such as depression as a result of the emergency”.
Promoting and protecting the mental health and the well-being of the population must be a high priority for governments. Paying attention to the mental and emotional health of a nation’s people must be given added priority during crises and disasters.
The World Health Organization’s Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 and the World Federation for Mental Health “People’s Charter for Mental Health” have strongly endorsed the need for a comprehensive response to these disasters by Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations, including professional associations and civil society, and involving patients, service users, their families and other caregivers.’
