10 phrases to reflect on on World Mental Health Day

This Monday, October 10, World Mental Health Day is celebrated, a day that the World Health Organization (WHO) instituted to increase awareness that a full life is not possible without mental health. This year the topic on which they want to raise awareness, chosen by the World Federation for Mental Health, is make mental health and well-being for all a global priority.

The WHO stresses that mental health is not characterized solely by the absence of mental disorders, but by “a state of well-being in which the person performs his abilities and is able to cope with the normal stresses of life, to work, and to contribute to his community.”

Also notice how Several factors have negatively affected mental health in recent years Worldwide. To the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate emergency are now added the war in Ukraine and the threat of a serious economic crisis.

Mental health, a global priority

Making mental health and well-being for all a global priority requires sufficient resources. One of the areas in which we want to emphasize this year is in childhood, adolescence and youththe most vulnerable groups and in which more attention is required.

That is why the motto chosen by the Confederation of Mental Health Spain has chosen “Like mental health. For the right to grow in well-being”, to guide the activities that will be held on the occasion of this world day. “Children and adolescent mental health is one of the main pending issues in Spanish health that urgently needs to be improved,” they maintain from Salud Mental España.

This was the great demand of the president of Mental Health Spain, Nel González Zapico in the act to commemorate World Mental Health Day, held on October 5 at the Piamonte Auditorium (Impact HUB) in Madrid and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Letizia Ortiz.

“Any event during these early stages can mark their lives foreverpositively, but also negatively,” warned González.

One in seven young people suffers from a mental disorder

The data confirms that urgent need to allocate more resources to prevent mental health problems from an early age, claimed at the commemoration of World Mental Health Day organized by the Confederation of Mental Health Spain.

The volume of Internet searches for information related to stress, depression and, above all, anxiety has not stopped increasing in recent years. According to the WHO, in the world, one in seven young people between the ages of 10 and 19 suffer from a mental disorder.

The pandemic has worsened this situation, increasing mental disorders in minors by up to 47%, according to the Spanish Mental Health Confederation. Another report, carried out last year by the ANAR Foundation, in support of children and adolescents at risk of exclusion, indicates that the calls to ask for help for a minor have increased by 54.6% since the pandemic.

With this year’s motto for World Mental Health Day, the objective is to question and involve all the agents involved in care and protection of mental health from early childhood. This includes not only institutions. Also and above all the young people and adolescents themselves, their families and the entire educational community.

Emotional education is one of the keys to growing in well-being and promoting mental health from an early age. During his speech at the commemoration ceremony, Nel González Zapico demanded that it become a subject, as well as that more resources be allocated to prevent suicide in children, adolescents and young people and to act on factors such as school bullying and cyberbullying, sexual abuse in childhood, or the scarcity and precariousness of youth employment.

The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, also participated in the event and highlighted the preventive work carried out on the phone 024 attention to suicidal behavior, especially among the young population. “About 30% of 024 users are under 30 years of age,” she said.

To the suffering caused by mental illness, both in young people and adults, is added the stigma associated with ignorance and prejudice from the rest of the “mentally healthy” people. The stigma makes the patient feel ashamed and singled out, and multiplies their suffering. Both mental illness and stigma can be fought with understanding and knowledge, such as those that flow from the phrases that we propose to reflect on.

10 phrases about depression and mental health to reflect on

Philosophers, thinkers, psychologists and writers have reflected on the need to focus on mental health. These phrases invite us to reflect on one of the most prevalent diseases, depression.

We have selected eloquent sentences from writers, artists, psychiatrists, psychologists and activists who offer different perspectives on mental health and illness. Phrases open doors to articles and books to delve into.

Together they make up a puzzle that provides a complete picture. Self-knowledge, reflection, reading, resilience, empowerment appear as tools that contribute to mental health.