World Mental Health Day 2023

This past Monday marked the 11th anniversary of the first time I posted on my blog. Those of you who are relatively new followers may not be aware that I originally set out to share my story of depression, in the hope that it might encourage others to recognise that if they were suffering too, then they weren’t alone. I have veered away from the mental health theme since then, but it is never far from my mind and you will have seen occasional posts from me on it. One of the constants for me has been to mark World Mental Health Day (WMHD), which takes place each year on 10th October – i.e. next Tuesday. This will be my ninth offering for this, and the sixth in successive years: the message is too important to be overlooked.

So, what is WMHD about? It was initiated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and is given a theme each year. This year, the WFMH is marking its 75th anniversary with the theme “Mental Health is a Universal Human Right.” That shouldn’t really need to be said but, sadly, it really does. Mental health has, in this country at least, always been the Cinderella of the health service: a relatively underfunded part of a service which successive governments have done their best to cut back. Since the pandemic hit us in 2020 that gap has, I think, widened. The understandable need to divert resources to treating the victims of COVID and all that goes with it has stretched funds even more than they were before. The underlying problem is that physical illnesses are easier to recognise and treat, whereas mental illness is somehow hidden from view.

The WFMH website has a lot of information about mental health in general, and WMHD in particular. I thought about cutting and pasting some of that in here, but this little video – less than a minute long – introduces them well:

You might need to pause that a couple of times along the way, as they seem to think that we are all expert speed readers, but it makes its point. On their site they say that this year’s global campaign aims to place mental health in a human rights framework, to re-cast the aspiration for sound mental health as a fundamental human right. I couldn’t agree more, especially when you consider what some people regard as basic rights – Americans and their guns, for example.

Here in the UK the main campaign lead is taken by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF). Again, their website has a wealth of good information and resources to support the message, and I recommend you take a look if you’re interested. I particularly like their tips for talking about your own mental health and for opening up a conversation to help someone else. They have a page headed Our best mental health tips – well worth a read, and you can download their guide there, too.

I spent several years as a volunteer trustee for a local branch of the mental health charity Mind, which was both informative and rewarding. Mind is affiliated to the MHF and works closely with them. They also carry out a lot of educational work and, though it isn’t new, this video sets things out very clearly:

As the WFMH say, it is a basic human right that we all understand the importance of good mental health, and have access to resources to help us achieve that. Those resources can be treatment by trained professionals, when that is required, with or without medication, but there are a wide range of other things that can help us. There are many publications available to help us, provided by the likes of the MHF and Mind. Those tips on the MHF website talk about many more things we can do to help ourselves and those we care about. The most difficult part can be accepting that we – or someone we know – are in need of help. From my own experience I can look back on a period of around six months before I took the first step, and it resulted in my being off work for over nine months. We can’t change the past, but I do wonder how much shorter that period might have been if I had taken that first step sooner. No doubt the same can be said for many others, but it doesn’t have to be like that: as I hope I have shown you, there are many places and ways from which help can be obtained.

If you or anyone you know may be needing help, please take that first step. I know how difficult it can be, even to accept that there might be an issue that needs to be addressed, but we are generally good at standing up for our rights, and good mental health is very definitely one of those.

Take care – of yourself and those who are important to you.