World Mental Health Day being observed today

World Mental Health Day is being observed today, October 10, to raise awareness of mental health issues and to mobilise efforts in support of mental health.

The day aims at increasing awareness about mental well-being, providing an opportunity for people with mental health conditions to collectively recognize progress in this field and to be vocal about what needs to be done to ensure mental health and well-being become a global priority for all.

The World Federation for Mental Health announced the theme of the day 'Make mental health for all a global priority”.

Before the pandemic, an estimated one in eight people globally lived with a mental disorder. The pandemic created a global crisis for mental health.

And World Mental Health Day 2022 on 10 October is a chance to “rekindle our efforts to protect and improve mental health,” says the World Health Organization (WHO).

The COVID-19 pandemic alone caused a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide. It created “a global crisis for mental health,” according to the WHO, while services, skills and funding for mental health “remain in short supply, and fall far below what is needed, especially in low and middle-income countries,” it adds.

Every year since 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) has organized a global campaign for World Mental Health Day. 

The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), a non-governmental organisation founded in 1948 in London, first observed World Mental Health Day in 1992.