OUR CAUSES

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2022

Theme :

Make mental health & well-being for all a global priority

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on people’s mental health. Some groups, including health and other frontline workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions, have been particularly affected. And services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders have been significantly disrupted.

Yet there is cause for optimism. During the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from around the world recognized the need to scale up quality mental health services at all levels. And some countries have found new ways of providing mental health care to their populations.

During this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, we will showcase the efforts made in some of these countries and encourage you to highlight positive stories as part of your own activities, as an inspiration to others.

We will also provide new materials, in easy-to-read formats, of how to take care of your own mental health and provide support to others too. We hope you will find them useful.Whilst the pandemic has, and continues to, take its toll on our mental health, the ability to reconnect through World Mental Health Day 2022 will provide us with an opportunity to re-kindle our efforts to protect and improve mental health.

Many aspects of mental health have been challenged; and already before the pandemic in 2019 an estimated one in eight people globally were living with a mental disorder. At the same time, the services, skills and funding available for mental health remain in short supply, and fall far below what is needed, especially in low and middle income countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global crisis for mental health, fueling short- and long-term stresses and undermining the mental health of millions. Estimates put the rise in both anxiety and depressive disorders at more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic. At the same time, mental health services have been severely disrupted and the treatment gap for mental health conditions has widened.

Growing social and economic inequalities, protracted conflicts, violence and public health emergencies affect whole populations, threatening progress towards improved well-being; a staggering 84 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced during 2021. We must deepen the value and commitment we give to mental health as individuals, communities and governments and match that value with more commitment, engagement and investment by all stakeholders, across all sectors. We must strengthen mental health care so that the full spectrum of mental health needs is met through a community-based network of accessible, affordable and quality services and supports.

Stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to social inclusion and access to the right care; importantly, we can all play our part in increasing awareness about which preventive mental health interventions work and World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to do that collectively. We envision a world in which mental health is valued, promoted and protected; where everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy mental health and to exercise their human rights; and where everyone can access the mental health care they need.

WHO will work with partners to launch a campaign around the theme of Making Mental Health & Well-Being for All a Global Priority. This will be an opportunity for people with mental health conditions, advocates, governments, employers, employees and other stakeholders to come together to recognize progress in this field and to be vocal about what we need to do to ensure Mental Health & Well-Being becomes a Global Priority for all.




https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2022

 

 

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2021

Theme : Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on people’s mental health. Some groups, including health and other frontline workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions, have been particularly affected. And services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders have been significantly disrupted.

Yet there is cause for optimism. During the World Health Assembly in May 2021, governments from around the world recognized the need to scale up quality mental health services at all levels. And some countries have found new ways of providing mental health care to their populations.

During this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, we will showcase the efforts made in some of these countries and encourage you to highlight positive stories as part of your own activities, as an inspiration to others.

We will also provide new materials, in easy-to-read formats, of how to take care of your own mental health and provide support to others too. We hope you will find them useful.

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2021

 

 

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2020

Theme : increased investment in mental health. 

This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye.

The economic consequences of the pandemic are already being felt, as companies let staff go in an effort to save their businesses, or indeed shut down completely.

This is why the goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign is increased investment in mental health. 

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/world-mental-health-day-2020

 

 

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2019

Theme : Focus on suicide prevention

Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide.

Suicide Prevention was the theme of World mental health day in the year of 2019 that revolved around raising awareness of the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play to help prevent it.

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2019/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2019-focus-on-suicide-prevention

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2018

Theme : Young people and mental health in
a changing world

Half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated. In terms of the burden of the disease among adolescents, depression is the third leading cause. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs among adolescents is a major issue in many countries and can lead to risky behaviours such as unsafe sex or dangerous driving. Eating disorders are also of concern.

 

This is the focus for the year 2018 World Mental Health Day ie Young People and their mental health.

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2018/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2018

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2017

Theme : Mental Health in the work place

Depression and anxiety disorders are common mental disorders that have an impact on our ability to work, and to work productively. Globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability. More than 260 million are living with anxiety disorders.Many of these people live with both. A recent WHO-led study estimates that depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year in lost productivity.

Mental health in the workplace was the theme of World Mental Health Day 2017.


 https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2017/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2017

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2016

Theme : Psychological First Aid

When terrible things happen in our communities, we can reach out a helping hand to those who are affected. Perhaps you find yourself at the scene of an accident where people are hurt. Perhaps you are a health-care worker or teacher talking with someone from your community who has just witnessed the violent death of a loved one. Perhaps you are called upon as a staff member in a disaster or volunteer to help asylum seekers who have recently arrived in your community. Learning the basic principles of psychological first aid will help you to provide support to people who are very distressed, and, importantly, to know what not to say.

The theme of the year 2016 World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, covered“psychological first aid”. Efforts in support of the day will focus on basic pragmatic psychological support by people who find themselves in a helping role whether they be health staff, teachers, firemen, community workers, or police officers.

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2016/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2016—psychological-first-aid

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2015

Theme : Dignity in Mental Health

Thousands of people with mental health conditions around the world are deprived of their human rights. They are not only discriminated against, stigmatised and marginalised but are also subject to emotional and physical abuse in both mental health facilities and the community. Poor quality care due to a lack of qualified health professionals and dilapidated facilities leads to further violations.

The theme for the year 2015 World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, was “Dignity in mental health”. 

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2015/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2015

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2014

Theme : Living a healthy life with schizophrenia

Schizophrenia affects 20 million people worldwide but is not as common as many other mental disorders. Schizophrenia also commonly starts earlier among men.

Schizophrenia is associated with considerable disability and may affect educational and occupational performance.

People with schizophrenia are 2 – 3 times more likely to die early than the general population (2). This is often due to physical illnesses, such as cardiovascular, metabolic and infectious diseases.

Stigma, discrimination and violation of human rights of people with schizophrenia is common.

The theme for 2014 was “Living with schizophrenia”.

The focus of the World Health Organization will be living a healthy life with schizophrenia.

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2014/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2014

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY – 2013

Theme : Mental health and older adults

Older adults, those aged 60 or above, make important contributions to society as family members, volunteers and as active participants in the workforce. While most have good mental health, many older adults are at risk of developing mental disorders, neurological disorders or substance use problems as well as other health conditions such as diabetes, hearing loss, and osteoarthritis. Furthermore, as people age, they are more likely to experience several conditions at the same time.

The theme of World Mental Health Day in 2013 was “Mental health and older adults”.

https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2013/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2013