“The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
You probably have heard about this statement before. This was the focus of the theme for this year's World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2021. “Mental Health in an Unequal World” was chosen worldwide through voting, including the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). The wealthy people become more wealthy and the number of people in poverty is growing dramatically. Each individual at some point in their life might experience some kind of Mental Health problem.
The reason for the theme was to bring focus to the unequal access to mental health services across the world. According to the WFMH “between 75% to 95% of people with mental health disorders in low and middle-income countries unable to access mental health services at all and access in high-income countries is not much better.” It is no doubt that the pandemic affected everyone. Regarding this major impact on people’s health due to the pandemic, countries worldwide realized they need to improve the quality of mental health care. World Health Organization (WHO) states that this year’s World Mental Health day will include countries from around the world, who will take this opportunity to state how they are going to improve on this matter.
The WHO has put together a new ‘Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan’ indicating the campaign's awareness and actions on how they will implement the new plan. This will be on their website for the rest of the world to see the process of improving mental health services
worldwide. Not only are they focusing on the future, but they are releasing new materials for people to help look after their mental health, starting with Depression, which is the most common. If you would like to read more about this campaign click on the link [Link] or take a look on their website to find out more – World Health Organization. At the end of this blog you can find some of the materials they published on their website regarding depression.
Today there are still several people saying there is no such thing, it is a waste of time, people are bored when they refer to Mental Health, but they might not have experienced it before or do not fully understand what it means. If that person does not fully understand what it is, they make it worse for others by saying the wrong things or expressing themselves in the wrong way. It is important to know that Mental Health is not a disability, it is an illness. We can improve it with help from others. Living with a black dog video will help explain Depression, which falls under the umbrella of Mental Health [Link].
If you are not sure where to start on finding the support you need, within ubu we have the Employee Assistance Program – EAP that you can contact at any time, they are specialized in helping you with anything, from finance to your personal life. Give them a call when you are ready and looking for the help you need on 0800 107 6147
To find more resources to help you the Mental Health Foundation has published a variety of different topics. The “How to…” booklets will help you in your life and you can use that information to help others around you, in the support you work, to help your family, and most importantly to help yourself [Link].
Below you can find more information on mental health and videos to help you understand it better and how you can improve your mental health and help others to improve theirs.
We all have mental health – open link here
Kindness matters most – open link here
Mindfulness, 10 mins practice – open link here
WHO’s campaign materials focusing on Depression:
