When is World Mental Health Day?
October 10th marks World Mental Health Day.
What is World Mental Health Day?
Chemical rushes, complex circuitry, and a friendly community of 100 billion neurons. That’s your brain. It’s a delicate thing, and World Mental Health Day reminds us how difficult it can be to keep a brain in balance. This is a day to learn about mental health issues and the steps to achieving and maintaining mental resilience.
There’s a stigma surrounding mental health. Depression is nobody’s favorite water-cooler subject. And if everyone else is stressed out, our own anxieties might begin to seem normal. In truth, they might be normal, but that doesn’t mean they’re healthy.
Emotional struggles can affect anyone’s ability to face the challenge of daily life. Ignoring the problem might just make it worse. Many mental illnesses arise from unresolved emotional damage that occurred earlier in life.
If someone suffers from mental health issues, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re suicidal. However, it does mean that they may need support as they work through psychological distress. World Mental Health Day prompts us to consider the reality of mental disorders and the importance of our own mental health.
Facts about World Mental Health Day!
- 20% of US adults experience mental health issues every year.
- In 2016, nearly 7% of U.S. adults suffered from a major depressive episode.
- About 18% of US adults have anxiety disorders like OCD, specific phobias, or PTSD.
How to celebrate World Mental Health Day:
- Educate yourself. Learn about some of the more common mental illnesses, such as depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia.
- Be kind. Impatience, harassment, and verbal abuse stress people out and sow seeds that may one day contribute to depression or other disorders. Instead, show others you value them by your kindness.
- Take care of yourself. Exercise, eat well, talk about your feelings with people you trust, take a break, keep in touch with the people you love.
What’s the hashtag for World Mental Health Day?
Use #WorldMentalHealthDay on social media to open conversations about mental health.