Conceptualized by the World Health Organization (WHO), World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on October 10. This year also, the date is likely to be celebrated with the theme of ‘Mental Health In An Unequal World.’
World Mental Health Day was conceptualized and observed for the first time on 10 October 1992. The day in 1992 was started as a yearly activity of the World Federation for Mental Health (WMFH). At that point in time, the WMFH was led by General Richard Hunter who was the Deputy Secretary-General of the organization. In 1992, the theme of the first celebration was ‘Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World.’
Naturally, the day motivates the health department in the governments of all the countries that enjoy membership of the WHO. Under the leadership of the premium health governing body, the respective departments take adequate measures to come up with the right measures so that they can work for the people who do not enjoy 100% mental health.
The theme for this year’s celebration has a deeper meaning. It highlights that not the whole population in the world has direct access to mental health services. As per the available data and statistics, people between 75% and 95% with any kind of mental disorder belong to low or middle-income countries. Naturally, they do not have enough resources to afford the cost of mental health services. It is a major factor that denies these services and facilities to these people. Due to this, the depth of these disorders is increasing rather fast globally.
What is Meant by Mental Health?
Being mentally healthy does not mean that a person does not have any mental health disorder. Medically, if a person has good mental health, then he or she can:
- Cope with life
- Make the best use of your bodily and mental potential
- Carry out all the responsibilities in the family, community, workplace, and everywhere else.
Keeping in mind a person’s presence in society or the family, it is very important that he or she must have sound mental health. However, a stigma also works that intensifies the issue even further. According to this stigma, people feel uneasy about themselves and they frequently decide not to talk about them much. To take such people out of this state of mind, the significance of World Mental Health Day increases manifold. Only a mentally healthy person can live well and carry out his responsibilities towards himself or herself and also towards the world around him or her.
