By Danni Harris
World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on Oct.10th. The day is geared towards raising awareness of the many mental illnesses in the world.
World Mental Health Day was first celebrated in 1992. The holiday was created through the initiative of Deputy Secretary-General Richard Hunter. According to the World Health Organization, “the overall objective [of World Mental Health Day] is to raise awareness of mental health issues worldwide and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.”
After its creation in 1992, each World Mental Health Day had a theme. Secretary-General Eugene Brody introduced the first theme. In 1994, just two years after the first World Mental Health Day, the theme was “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World.”
This year’s theme was “Increased Investment in Mental Health.” When asked about the importance of this year’s World Mental Health Day, Communications Officer Alison Brunier stated, “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…”
The World Health Organization describes mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively and can contribute to his or her community.” Elders, college students, professionals, and working-class citizens are amongst the highest subjected to mental health issues.
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