The 10th of October of each year is World Mental Health Day. It is an annual event that, according to the World Health Organization, aims to “mobilize awareness of issues to promote mental health”. The main focus this year is to draw attention to events that have had a significant impact on everyone’s mental health, from the coronavirus pandemic to the economic downturn.
According to the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Report released last June, cases of depression and anxiety increased by 25 percent in the first year of the epidemic and the number of people with mental illness rose to nearly one billion people.
Initiative for more support
In 2020, the World Health Organization created the Special Initiative on Mental Health. This is the most ambitious WHO program to date in this field. 100 million people in 12 countries will have access to mental health services. These countries include Ukraine, Jordan and Zimbabwe. According to the World Health Organization, since the initiative began in January 2020, five million people have had better access to mental health and psychosocial support services.
“It has taken two and a half years to get the initiatives on the ground,” Alison Schaeffer, technical advisor in the Department of Mental Health at the World Health Organization, explains in an interview with DW. “We now expect to see greater progress in expanding mental health services so that more people can receive support. “. One of the greatest successes so far has been the provision of mental health and psychosocial support services during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or especially to those affected by serious conflicts, as in Ukraine or the Philippines.
Initial successes
One of the goals of the initiative is to focus on supporting groups at risk. These groups include people who experience discrimination or human rights violations, such as LGBTI people. “We are already seeing results, such as creating an understanding that same-sex sexual attraction is not a mental disorder, but that these people are more likely to develop mental illness due to social stigma and discrimination and need urgent support,” Schaefer explains.
Despite the initial successes the WHO initiative has shown so far, the project is due to end in 2023. Criticized by Rene Elondo, an anti-discrimination advisor at Sources-d’Espoir in Berlin, “the help people need has no end point.” (…) It takes time to provide support.”
War exacerbates mental illness
On the other hand, the United Nations World Health Organization announced today, Monday, October 10, that 8 million Yemenis suffer from psychological problems, as a result of the eight-year conflict. The United Nations said in a report that mental illness is one of the most common health conditions in Yemen.
The organization said that “the armed conflict in Yemen, which has been going on for eight years and the collapsed economy, has paralyzed health facilities and exacerbated mental illnesses that affect all segments of society.” She pointed out that “the few facilities available that provide mental health and psychological and social services, suffer from a severe lack of funding, compared to the urgent need for their services.”
Fred Schaffler/EM (DPA)
