World Mental Health Day | Why It Matters & How to Support

Introduction

Each year, World Mental Health Day is celebrated on the 10th of October aiming to spread awareness of mental health globally and fostering action towards it. While people tend to put a lot of emphasis on a healthy body, a healthy mind is still considered just as an unrelated part of a person’s well-being. It exists as a mean to educate the populace on the need to fight for mental health as much as they do for physical health and for people and governments to stop neglecting mental health issues.

Mental Health: An Overview

Mental health may be described as our emotional, psychological, and social state. It shapes the processes, thoughts, emotions, and activity practices that inform life and living. Mental health is important in societies at every age starting from childhood and through adulthood. Problems like depression, anxiety, stress disorders, and the like have become almost normal in today’s world of increased speed and more. The WHO also estimates that over 300 million people worldwide now suffer from mental health disorders.

However, mental health still remains something that the society frowns upon. Some people never go for help because they feel that they will be judged or they never get the chance to in the first place. It is in this respect that we need to have World Mental Health Day in order to help spread awareness and facilitate discourses on mental health.

History of World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day was launched in the year 1992 and it was part of WFMH (World Federation for Mental Health). The day is to give everyone another chance to talk about what they do in the sphere of mental health and what problems should be solved. Every year this theme is slightly altered to target different aspects of mental health.

For instance, the 2023 theme was “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right”, it was as a result pushing for the need to ensure that mental health services should be made available to everyone around the world, regardless of where they live, how much money they make or their social class. For this year, the theme also seeks to come to action by pointing towards Raising Awareness and fighting Stigma, emphasizing the need to wipe out mental health-related prejudices and popular opinions.

Real-Life Case Studies

1. Case Study: Overcoming Depression

Our participant, Sarah, age 32, a professional from London, reported a first episode of clinical depression in 2018. She underwent a lifeless, sad, and unmotivated existence as well as feeling helpless afterward. They have failed to learn from the mix of success and failure that they have tasted so far and have no other choice but to continue piling expectations on Carrie’s frail shoulders in the hope she’ll deliver all the same miracles she did before when her condition started affecting her job performance, as well as social life. Reluctantly prompted by the family member for help with mental health, Sarah finally sought help from a therapist.

With the help of therapy plus the effect of some sort of pill indeed Sarah started to slowly come back to life. Today she supports others in the workplace to embrace the need to seek a mental health professional when they need one. It is clear, therefore, that no one should feel safe from mental illness no matter how much money or education they have earned or how high ranking their position is in society. It also emphasizes the need for society to provide conditions in which individuals may freely discuss their issues without fear of being laughed at.

2. Case Study: Battling Anxiety as a Student

Ahmed, a young Pakistan male university student, was a good example of what hardworking and high achievers society expects you to achieve in education. However, the inability to avoid high expectations from him, resulted in him suffering from intense anxiety. He had a panic disorder, he could not fall asleep and was scared to death of failure. In-house studying pressure fed back to his fragile mental health condition, and as this progressed, his grades started to drop, according to them, he was stuck in a cycle of stress and failure.

With the assistance of his university counseling center, Ahmed enrolled in counseling. He also used to take a lot of regular exercises which enabled him to overcome the anxiety situation and get back in control of his life. His story leads to a student support message of improved mental health of students and a call for universities to embrace the needs of their students with mental health issues.

Breaking the Shame Around Mental Health

Psychiatric negative attitudes are one of the main reasons why people fail to seek professional assistance. Even today, many people regard mental health conditions as a weakness that a person possesses rather than an ailment. This belief results in silence and suffering in seclusion. Nevertheless, thanks to such efforts as World Mental Health Day, the situation has begun to change rapidly.

There are many ways we can help fight the stigma:

• Open Conversations: If I start discussing for instance mental health, all that I know is that someone close or even I myself might benefit from it.
• Education: Educating people with the correct knowledge of mental health can help override myths and misconceptions.
• Support Networks: Emotional support to people struggling with some mental disorder is something that must be done. This entails relatives friends and other service providers.

Role of Governments in Supporting Mental Health

Mental health is among the most important areas where governments and organizations heavily invest. Mental health care remains a serious problem in many countries and, even in the developed states, can be unaffordable. Mental health is an important area that requires governments to put funding into improving the provision of these services in the form of cheap therapy, school-based education about mental health, and increased targeted services to vulnerable populations such as veterans, refugees, and those living in poverty.

Employers and corporations can also help by raising awareness of mental health in the workplace. EAPs, mental health workshops, and cultivating a workplace culture for employee mental well-being have a tremendously positive impact on overall worker health.

For instance, multinational companies such as Unilever came up with a universal mental health theme aimed at creating awareness and supporting human resources who suffer from mental health disorders. This also entails manager training on how to handle professionals, and their teams, experiencing mental health problems. This position of Unilever shows that organizations have a great potential to influence the bulk of the workforce positively when it comes to mental health at the workplace.

Ways through which one can encourage mental health in one society include:

As individuals, there are many ways to contribute to the mental well-being of those around us:

• Educate Yourself and Others: Understand the mental disorders and the symptoms of these at yourself and around you. If you have knowledge of these sources tell your friends and relatives about it.
• Offer a Listening Ear: The most you can do sometimes, is just sit down and listen without the necessity to offer your opinion. If someone seems upset comfort them and let him/her express what he/she is going through.
• Support Mental Health Initiatives: Fund mental health agencies or learn about opportunities to be a volunteer at organizations that help individuals with mental health issues.
• Practice Self-Care: These are important things to consider when attempting to support someone with a diagnosis of a mental illness Imagining taking care of your own mental health as well is crucial. Some examples are exercise, meditation, laughter, going to spend time with friends and family and balance them equally.

Mental Health is Everyone’s Responsibility

World Mental Health Day means that the problem of mental health is not only an individual problem but also a social one. The more people open their eyes and the less anyone hides when they are struggling, the closer we are to the society that pays much attention to people’s mental health. Whether you’re fighting for better mental health, supporting someone you know, or trying to keep your own mental health as intact as possible, every effort is needed in this battle.

On this World Mental Health Day let us take a pledge to give importance to mental health in our lives and societies. Altogether, it’s possible to design a world where people will receive the care they need to be mentally healthy.