World Mental Health Day 2011

The following post was developed with material from the website of the World Federation for Mental Health.  Where the pronouns "we" and "our" are used, they should be read as World Federation for Mental Health.

World Mental Health Day 2011 is October 10. World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental health issues. The day promotes more open discussion of mental disorders and investments in prevention and treatment services. The treatment gap for mental, neurological and substance use disorders is formidable especially in poor resource countries.

Physical and mental health are intertwined. There is a real need to deal with the mental health problems of people with chronic physical illnesses and physical care of mental health consumers through a continued and integrated care.

This year’s theme is “the Great Push for Mental Health.”

The major themes of the Great Push are Unity, Visibility, Rights, Recovery, and planning of this program is now in progress.

• UNITY - Perceptions of disunity in the mental health world, probably exaggerated need to be dispelled. The first round of the WFMH (World Federation for Mental Health) Great Global Consensus has demonstrated substantial agreement on fundamental issues with over 530 replies from organizations and individuals demonstrating over 95% agreement on the 10 principles of the World Federation The second round is in preparation and will address the inclusion of mental health as one of the Millennium Goals. The Consensus is designed to culminate in a WFMH/MGMH Consensus Summit" where participating organizations will be invited to fund one representative to the Summit at which the Consensus will form the basis of a WFMH /MGMH “Charter” to the United Nations and Governments stating clearly what mental health related and consumer/users/survivor organizations around the world require governments to do to improve mental health.

• VISIBILITY- Mental illness and the mentally ill are invisible, but stigma is everywhere. Our support for mental health must be made visible to governments. How can that be achieved but by public events? We will encourage organized parades, rallies and parties starting on World Mental Health Day (October 10, 2011), involving consumers and their families marching in public together with the support of mental health associations, professionals, academics, volunteers, managers of services and students! Countries will be encouraged to create and fund their own national parades. WFMH insures they happen together on World Mental Health Day. Parades should celebrate good mental health with celebrities and sports persons while calling for better awareness of, and services for mental illness. Parades should be attractive and entertaining for the general public while carrying a strong message. They could collect signatures to hand to governments with demands to do more for mental health both in their own country and abroad. Parades might continue year by year growing in strength and entertainment until a significant change in public opinion and government action is demonstrated. This is already happening in many places, particularly in India and in 2009 in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka, where nearly 5000 students, government and non-government sectors participated in a march two kilometres long. We need to be visible. They have shown us the way.

• RIGHTS - Appalling conditions are tolerated in many mental hospitals and abusive treatments for mental illness are common. Governments must not be allowed to tolerate these conditions: There is clearly a strong grass roots need to bring together legal experts and existing organizations to collect evidence and to lobby governments to address these issues across the world and bring them to public attention. We proposed the setting up of a Centre for Mental Health and Human Rights to tackle such issues with governments.

• RECOVERY - is an important concept but the term is used in many different ways. WFMH will convene a conference to sharpen the concept and define its principal features. Meanwhile, thousands, perhaps millions, receive no mental health care because of the absence of professionals to assess and diagnose their illnesses, the first rate limiting step to recovery. We now have methods using computer technology able to empower nurses and health assistants, aimed at improving the detection, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. We recognize that these are only the first steps to true recovery; nevertheless they are an essential starting point. Such methods are already being successfully piloted in India, Europe and Australia. They have potential to bring relief to the untreated. The campaign will promote any appropriate and culturally acceptable method for bringing relief to those suffering mental illness.

Some major activities that WFMH is embarking on include:

• The development of a grass-roots campaign so that mental health can have more visibility and priority in the public mind internationally;

• Work with the Commonwealth Secretariat in anticipation of the UN Special Session on Non-Communicable Diseases scheduled for September, 2011;

• Participation in the United Nations process to reformulate the Millennium Development Goals;

• Developing strategic partners with international agencies and advocacy groups to promote the Great Push; and

• Promotion of the Great Push using both traditional and social media.

The World Health Organization has recently (September, 2010) released a report titled Mental Health and Development which makes the case for the integration of mental health in development efforts. Mental health is intimately tied with key areas of development such as education and human productivity. Our World Mental Health Day theme this year underlines the relationship of mental health with chronic physical illnesses. As we identify non-communicable diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases as the new scourge, the relationship to mental health is both intimate and unavoidable. The bottom line is that there is no health without mental health and that there is no development without health AND mental health.

Physical and mental health are intertwined. There is a real need to deal with the mental health problems of people with chronic physical illnesses and physical care of mental health consumers through a continued and integrated care.