According to WHO, world mental health day is celebrated on 10 October every year to spread awareness regarding mental health issues and its effect on our lives.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues all over the world. This makes it all the more important that people are more in need of mental support. We can be a part of their support system and help them only if we are aware of its importance.
This day also celebrates efforts of organisations that rally to raise awareness about mental health issues.
Wolrd Mental Health Day: History
World Mental Health Day was observed for the first time on 10 October, 1992. It was started as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health by the then Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter.
At the beginning, the year had no theme and the general aim was to spread awareness among people about mental health problems, its effects and how can they be managed.
It was Eugene Brody, the deputy general secretary, who decided the theme for the day for the first time in 1994. The theme for that year was 'Improving the quality of mental health services throughout the world' and there were 27 countries which had participated in the campaign.
World Mental Health Day: Significance
It becomes important to educate people about mental health issues since there still a lot of stigma associated with it. We also need to understand that physical and mental health are interrelated. Mental health is no different from physical health.
On this day, various organisations across the world come together and work towards a better future, where people are well-aware about mental health issues.
World Mental Health Day: Theme for 2021
The theme for this year is 'Mental Health in an unequal world'. This theme emphasises the need to look beyond the physical health of a person, especially when the world has faced the challenges of COVID-19 and still needs to recover from it.
According to the WHO, a country like India is burdened with mental health problems and the services are inadequate according to the condition.
India has a low health budget and the scarcity of the resources makes it even more difficult to face the challenges with the rising cases. In such condition, we must be empathetic and try to do our best to deal with mental health issues.
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