World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is observed annually on 10th October every year by the World Federation of Mental Health to raise awareness on ways to reduce mental illness, thereby improving mental wellbeing. The theme for this year 2018 is Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World.

Highlights:

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10^th October every year
The main objective of the campaign is to create public awareness on mental health problems that affect people worldwide and find ways to improve mental wellbeing
For this year 2018, the theme is ‘Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World’

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10^th October every year by the World Federation of Mental Health. The main objective of the awareness day is to raise awareness on mental health issues that affect people living across the globe and to find ways to improve mental health.

Every year, the theme for World Mental Health Day is mainly designed to focus on ways to identify certain striking mental health issues and support millions of people living across the world for better mental health. This year the theme for World Mental Health Day 2018 is 'Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World.'

Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.

‘Mental health problems affect many young people across the world. Therefore, maintaining a positive mindset, getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise and managing emotional hygiene can help protect your mind from stress, depression and other mental health illnesses.’
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Aim of the Campaign

The primary objective of the campaign is

To strengthen leadership to deal with mental health issues
To identify various mental health problems affecting people
To educate physicians, pharmacists, health professionals and the public about the prevalence, risk factors, and causes of mental health problems
To protect mental health by reducing work-related risk factors
To focus on depression at the workplace and its impact on productivity
To expand comprehensive mental health services and integrated social care in communities
To implement strategies to prevent mental health problems
To build up strong educational systems and research programs to help treat mental health problems

Personality Disorder Screening Test
Are you uncomfortable in close relationships? Are you anxious, intense, or demanding and need to know why? You may be suffering from a personality disorder. Use our test to screen for symptoms.

Burden of Mental Health Problems - Mounting among Youngsters

Mental health problems are one of the leading causes of the overall disease burden around the world
Nearly 20 percent of the world's children and adolescents have mental disorders or problems
Nearly 10 percent of children and young people (aged 5-16 years) have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem
Approximately one in five youth aged 13 to 18 experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life
Almost 50 percent of mental health problems are established by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness affecting nearly 40 million people in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1 percent of the population every year
Around 16 million people in the UK experience a mental illness
Nearly 75 percent of young people with mental health issues are not receiving treatment

Almost half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, in which most cases go unidentified and untreated. Concerning the burden of the disease among youngsters, depression is the third leading cause and suicide is the second leading cause of death in people aged between 15 to 29 years.

Adolescence and the early years of adulthood are a time of life when many changes such as changing schools, leaving home for higher studies or a new job. For many youngsters, these are exciting times but may also lead to a stressful life, depression, and anxiety. If not timely recognized and managed, these feelings can lead to mental illness.

World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day focuses on improving mental health at the workplace. The day urges employers to design initiatives that improve well-being of employees

Need for Celebrating World Mental Health Day

Mental wellbeing describes your mental state by how you are feeling and how well you can deal with day-to-day life. Our mental well-being is dynamic. It can change from day to day, month to month, year to year or even from moment to moment.

Mental health problems can vary from the worries that a person experiences as part of day-to-day life to serious long-term conditions. Most people who suffer mental health problems can easily get over them or learn to live with them, especially if they seek help as soon as identified.

Prevention mainly begins with being aware of and understanding the early signs and symptoms of mental illness. Identifying and strengthening your mental health from an early age can help prevent psychological distress and illness among adolescents and young adults.

Parents and teachers can help develop life skills in children and adolescents to help them cope with everyday challenges at home, school, and college. Psychosocial support can be implemented in schools and other community settings.

Life Stress Meter
An interactive lifestyle tool to check out ‘how stressful your life is’ in this competitive and fast paced world.

Major Culprits that affect Your Mental Well-being

Stress
Loneliness
Depression
Anxiety
Lack of Sleep
Relationship Problems
Issues at Work
Homelessness
Unemployment
Poverty
Inactivity
Long-term physical health condition

Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs among teenagers is a significant issue in many countries and can lead to risky behaviors such as violence, unsafe sex, and dangerous driving.

The expanding use of online technologies, social media, and electronic gadgets such as smartphone and laptop are undoubtedly bringing many benefits, can also cause sleep deprivation and other stress-related disorders, thereby adding additional burdens towards mental distress and illness.

Smart 6 Ways to Fight against Mental Illness among Youngsters

Value Yourself: Try to treat yourself with kindness and respect, avoid self-criticism and boost your self-esteem. Taking care of yourself physically can improve your mental health. So, make sure you eat healthy, drink plenty of water, participate in a regular physical activity and get enough sleep to reduce depression and anxiety and improve your mood.

Spend Some Time with Family, Friends and Loved Ones: Keeping touch with friends and family, whether it's face-to-face, through phone or by text can strengthen your relationships.

Calm Your Mind: Relaxation exercises and prayer can improve your state of mind and offer peace to your mind, body, and soul. Practicing yoga and meditation can promote self- healing, increase self-awareness, reduce stress and tension, improve in attention, focus and concentration.

Keep a Mood Diary: Tracking your moods and feelings can help you to understand what positively and negatively affects your mental wellbeing. This can help you take the necessary steps to avoid, change or prepare for negative situations.

Try Relaxation Techniques: Engaging activities or hobbies such as listening to music, gardening, dancing, and sports can help reduce stress and improve your mental wellbeing.

Open Up to a Trusted Person: Knowing that others value you can help you think more positively. While going through a tough time, try to talk and share your problems or feelings with someone you are comfortable and really trust, this can make you feel less burden.

Mental health involves overall psychological well-being, the way you feel about yourself and others and your ability to handle your feelings and deal with everyday difficulties and challenges. Therefore, maintaining a positive mindset, having enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise and managing emotional hygiene can help protect your mind from stress, depression and other mental health problems. So, let us stop stressing our mind and start living life cheerfully.

References:

World Mental Health Day 2018 - (http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2018/en/)
World Mental Health Day - Introduction - (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day)
What are mental health problems? - (https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/)
Health Days 2018 - (https://www.moh.gov.sa/en/HealthAwareness/healthDay/2018/Pages/HealthDay-2018-10-10.aspx)
Ten Things You Can Do for YourMental Health - (https://www.uhs.umich.edu/tenthings)
Mental health statistics: children and youngpeople - (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-children-and-young-people)

Source-Medindia