My message on World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is that the world community and governments are needed to become all the more humanitarian during the present extremely hard circumstances created by the unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic instead of fishing in troubled waters. Due to uncertainties caused by the crisis, many people are feeling depressed and upset since the governments across the world are becoming lesser people-oriented and distancing themselves from well-being of citizens.
It's the WHMD today (Oct 10) to raise 'awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health,' as held by the WHO- the UN Agency that coordinates the observance to provide 'an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.'
"This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our daily lives have changed considerably as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past months have brought many challenges: for health-care workers, providing care in difficult circumstances, going to work fearful of bringing COVID-19 home with them; for students, adapting to taking classes from home, with little contact with teachers and friends, and anxious about their futures; for workers whose livelihoods are threatened; for the vast number of people caught in poverty or in fragile humanitarian settings with extremely limited protection from COVID-19; and for people with mental health conditions, many experiencing even greater social isolation than before. And this is to say nothing of managing the grief of losing a loved one, sometimes without being able to say goodbye," informs WHO stressing the need for increased investment in mental health.
WHO adds, "The economic consequences of the pandemic are already being felt, as companies let staff go in an effort to save their businesses, or indeed shut down completely. Given past experience of emergencies, it is expected that the need for mental health and psycho-social support will substantially increase in the coming months and years. Investment in mental health programmes at the national and international levels, which have already suffered from years of chronic under-funding, is now more important than it has ever been."
Are the 'world community' and 'rulers' listening!
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