Mental Health Day: Prioritising Awareness and Positive Action

The world, by now, knows the 10th of October as ‘World Mental Health Day’—the result of a global advocacy and awareness programme started by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992. This is one of the Federation's most important and far‐reaching programmes, and rightly so. With an overall objective to raise awareness around mental health issues across borders, and mobilise efforts in support of mental health, this day was first observed on the tenth day of the same year of its founding. It has traditionally underscored the role of governments, employers and other stakeholders in preventing and dealing with mental health concerns.

A day we need

The theme for World Mental Health Day 2022 is 'Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority'. Through the core message of the theme, key proponents for mental health and all-round healthy living hope to steer us along a more sustainable and equalitarian path—in recognition of the impact of a lack of either. This path would facilitate public participation in recognising, speaking up about and acting in favour of how central mental health and well-being is to the overall health and success of society. In addition, advocates will also focus on how people with long-term health conditions and those living in low economic regions and experiencing stigma and discrimination are disproportionately impacted.

Unfortunately, there are many reasons many people choose to ignore mental health, including stigma born of harmful perceptions of mental health disorders as imagined rather than actual illnesses with real-world effects. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic and, today, in 2022, many people from different geographies, cultures, classes, races, genders, ages and abilities have had their mental health impacted (largely worsened). Having a fragmented outdated service model also lends itself to shortcomings in mental healthcare. This fragmentation affects the provision of mental health services, results in a severe lack of preventative mental health service, and contributes to delays in policy changes along with a shortage of human resources.

We all have a role to play

Here are a few tips to help us align our values to the WFMH objectives:

• Encourage more people to speak up about mental health concerns – Forming connections with other people that promote trust and openness is important for managing mental well-being.
• Active listening – Offering emotional and practical support can help people more than you think. Sometimes it only takes one person to listen to make a positive difference.
• Highlight the value of addressing concerns – Urge those who are experiencing mental health challenges to make a support plan. That plan could include figuring out the extent of self-help and external help that may be required.
• Be present – Whether you are dealing with challenges yourself or someone has reached out to you for help, try to be present and aware of where you are and what is happening. This mindfulness creates an environment more conducive to figuring out our next steps.
• Be physically active – Physical activities will not only help improve your physical health but also your overall fitness. Doing this with others can also make the experience more rewarding.
• Don’t miss out on sleep – Sleep is an important factor in our well-being. Those who struggle to sleep are likely to recognise the difference getting adequate sleep can make for the body, mind and ability to cope with life on a daily basis.

Mental well-being in the workplace

As an employer of people from all continents except Antarctica, Medline Europe has managed the development of programmes and initiatives that prioritise mental well-being in the workplace and removing barriers to exploring it. These include:

• Flexibility and inclusion – Regular check-ins with teams to remind everyone routinely of best practices and the facilities in place to support their mental health have been integrated into the Medline work culture.
• Learning and application – Medline continues to invest in ongoing training through LinkedIn learning, where courses on a range of topics, including stress management, empower employees.

Every initiative that seeks to shine a spotlight on mental health and the importance of talking and destigmatising a lack thereof is valuable, especially as mental health remains one of the most neglected areas of health globally. Looking ahead, societies, regardless of composition, need to invest more in mental health. It aligns with lessons learned in the last few years and makes sense for holistic socioeconomic development.

How will you mind your mental health or help someone else with managing theirs going forward?