World Mental Health Day

As many of you may know this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and today is World Mental Health Day. The focus of this year’s World Mental Health Day is suicide prevention. Today we come together with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health. According to WHO, every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. It is estimated that every year 800 000 people take their own life and there are many more who attempt suicide. The stigma surrounding mental disorders and suicide means many people thinking of taking their own life or have attempted to commit suicide are not seeking and getting the help they need. The prevention of suicide has not been appropriately considered as major public health problem due to a lack of awareness. WHO is encouraging members of the community to prepare to take “40 seconds of action” today on World Mental Health Day to improve awareness of the significance of suicide as a global public health problem, improve knowledge of what can be done to prevent suicide, reduce the stigma associated with suicide and let people who are struggling know that they are not alone. You may visit https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/mental-health/suicide/flyer-40seconds-web.pdf?sfvrsn=5ba643c_2 for ideas on how you may take your “ 40 seconds of action”. Feel free to share your messages, photos, and videos that are not private in nature on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #40Seconds. Include #WorldMentalHealthDay in your posts too. Please visit: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/mental-health/suicide-prevention-health-workers.pdf for more information on how you can help prevent suicide as a healthcare provider.