World Mental Health Day 2022: The World Mental Health Report, a major study on mental health, was released in 2022 by WHO. The Report offers a road map for governing bodies, academics, medical professionals, members of civil society, and anyone who want to help the globe change mental health.
Stigma is one of the widespread concerns the paper discusses. People with mental health issues frequently face stigma, discrimination, and human rights breaches in local communities and treatment systems worldwide. It is so appropriate and welcomed that the Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health was established today, but how will it change anything?
Stigma comes in various forms. Most frequently, we compare it to how we treat one another. However, that just reflects a portion of the problem; a silent issue is internalised personal guilt brought on by a person’s suffering from mental illness. Because stigma is the hook that all mental health issues hang from, we must mainstream talking about mental health and its plethora of conditions.
The fact that the WHO’s World Mental Health Report contains a variety of accounts from people who have lived with mental health issues is one of its strong points. We appreciate the more than 30 persons who shared their inspirational tales of tenacity and survival. We may learn how to provide greater assistance and normalise dialogues by listening to more and more stories like theirs. Their boldness in sharing their tale is inspiring and humbling.
The same is true of the most current WHO recommendations for workplace mental health. The revised Guidelines include activities to address hazards to mental health in the workplace, such as severe workloads, negative behaviours, and other variables that produce an estimated 12 billion workdays missed yearly owing to melancholy and anxiety.
Our collective and individual mental health faces a new challenge every week as a result of conflicts, illnesses, and climatic changes. Without expressing it and comprehending it, we will keep covering up the gaps.
In considering a goal for this year’s World Mental Health Day, WHO would want to see progress in the following four areas:
- Fund mental health services; it is estimated that global spending on mental health services is less than 2% of total health spending. The number of persons living with a mental condition worldwide is estimated to be about one billion in 2019. Services are severely underfunded.
- Improve our knowledge of mental health, our ability to comprehend and support others’ experiences, as well as those of our caretakers. A fantastic place to begin is with the WHO Quality Rights Mental Health e-training. The purpose of this programme was to advance the rights of persons with psychosocial, intellectual, and cognitive impairments and to raise the standard of treatment in mental health and related services.
- Prioritize mental health through practising self-care, examining work procedures to ensure that workers are successful, and ensuring that there is a strong network of support for mental health in the community.Pay attention to those who have firsthand knowledge of mental health issues. We will learn from their experience the best ways to assist and look after them.
Sadly, stigma simply makes mental health disorders more unpleasant since it makes people feel less understood. Let’s make everyone’s mental health and well-being a top priority on a genuinely global scale by embracing the sage advice of this year’s World Mental Health Day theme.
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