World Mental Health Day 2020
With World Mental Health Day being on the 10th of October, this year’s theme has been announced to be “mental health for all”. Even though every year is important, it appears that this particular year that has been filled with surprises and tragedies at every corner, and so it is more crucial than ever to take this day off.
This year we have focused a lot on physical health, however it is time to step back and take a look at our minds too.
Overall, suicide rates have increased massively in recent years, however we have seen a huge jump in suicide rate for women under 25 which has increased by 93.8% since 2012.
We seem to live in a world full of hatred, discrimination and loss, and so it is so vital that we look out for one another. No matter what. This can be as big as spending a day with a friend, to as small as just messaging them and asking how they are. Mental health comes in all shapes and forms, but it is invisible unless we talk about it.
2020 has been such a mix of emotions with people being trapped at home with no social life for months. Just sitting in their room drowned by their thoughts. COVID-19 was such a drastic change in everyone’s life, but it was never taken into consideration what that did to people’s mental state.
Mental health isn’t a sign of weakness and it isn’t something you decide to have. It is normal and it is real. Telling people to just “be happy” isn’t helpful. Instead, sit and listen to them. Help each other. Write down how you feel, go on a walk, have some time off from your phone. These seem to be such basic things, but they can always make a difference. Cutting yourself off from social media for a while can come with such a benefit for your health.
Even in this time and age there still seems to be a stigma attached to mental health. The idea of having bad mental health is still displayed to be not natural. That’s why so many young people are scared and a lot of the time embarrassed to speak out and seek help. This is a thing that we as a society need to change. We need to normalise that not everyone may be happy all the time and that is okay. And so, we must make sure that the correct treatment and help is easily available and accessible to those who are in need of it.
The access to getting help seems to be so incredibly restricted. In the UK, the NHS is seriously underfunded, and with that comes a very long waiting list. People who need the help straight away may have to wait months to even go and see the doctor and the outcome is not always desirable. Some don’t have the money to go and see a therapist privately, they rely on the NHS. They rely on a system that doesn’t seem to want to help them.
It’s time to start having those conversations.
Be nice, you never know what kind of day someone may be having.
Below are helplines you may contact if you are struggling.
Take the first step.
CALM: 0800 58 58 58
Samaritans: 116 123
MIND: 0300 123 3393
Young Minds: 0808 802 5544
