Did you know that there is a celebrated day for mental health today, the 10th of October, World Mental Health Awareness Day?
It is a day to prioritise mental health and create awareness of mental health, hence the writing of this article.
The theme for this year’s awareness is ” mental health is not a privilege but a universal right”
In this article, I will be explaining what this theme means, what mental health is, how to protect your mental health and uphold your universal human right, the causes and types of mental illness and how to spread awareness.
What is the concept of Mental Health?
The World Health Organization popularly known as W.H.O conceptualizes Mental Health as” a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stress of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make contributions to his or her community”.
World Health organization states that mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders or disabilities. Peak mental health is not only managing mental conditions but is also about looking after wellness and happiness
Mental Health does not just involve the mental state of mind of a person but goes beyond that. It also refers to the physical and emotional aspects of a person as it encompasses how we process information, how we think and how we act and react to things.
This means that mental health is equally important to physical health. The same way you will suffer if you are physically ill, is the same way you will suffer if mentally ill. What I mean is when a person is physically ill, it affects how they do things and makes them incapable of doing things. So also, if mentally ill, it makes a person incapable of doing things. This is why it is of grave importance to protect and prioritise mental health.
What does the theme ” mental health is a universal human right mean?”
World Health Organization states that World Mental Health Day 2023 is an opportunity for people and communities to unite behind the theme ‘Mental health is a universal human right” to improve knowledge, raise awareness and drive actions that promote and protect everyone’s mental health as a universal human right.
Mental health is a universal human right for all people. Everyone, whoever and wherever they are, has a right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. This includes the right to be protected from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable, and good quality care, and the right to liberty, independence and inclusion in the community.
Good mental health is vital to our overall health and well-being. Yet one in eight people globally are living with mental health conditions, which can impact their physical health, their well-being, how they connect with others and their livelihoods. Mental health conditions are also affecting an increasing number of adolescents and young people.
Having a mental health condition should never be a reason to deprive a person of their universal human rights or to exclude them from decisions about their health. Yet all over the world, people with mental health conditions continue to experience a wide range of human rights violations. Many are excluded from community life and discriminated against, while many more cannot access the mental health care they need or can only access care that violates their human rights
How Can Mental Health Be Protected?
We have established in this article that your mental health is very important and to function properly your mental health needs to be intact.
I will be listing below three ways you can take care of your mental health.
1. express yourself.
Make sure you are always expressing how you feel. That is learning to show your emotions. Doing this helps you process things and helps you to deal with it better. If you are angry, sad, hurt or confused make it known. Don’t hide your feelings. you can express your self by journaling and writing how you feel This helps your brain to process things and reduces the risk of mental illness like hypertension, over thinking, which is caused by not expressing yourself.
2. Seek professional help
Going to therapy can not be over-rated or over-emphasized. It is indeed very important and necessary. It is natural, that as human beings we can not solve every problem ourselves, thus the saying a problem shared is a problem half solved. Seeking a professional(therapy ) helps you make reasonable and good choices as well as solve your problems.
It may not necessarily be therapy, you can get advice from people you trust, like mentors, family or friends.
Self-therapy is another alternative to seeking professional help. If it is something you can solve yourself, take time to reflect and advise yourself. Although this alternative is very good, I’ll advise going to therapy and seeking professional help or sharing your problems.
3. Set boundaries
This is one of my favorite things to write about and it is so because it is one of the easiest and effective ways to protect your mental health.
Certain boundaries mean making it known or clear your stance about a certain thing. It means you are making it known to people around you about what you can or can not tolerate.
When setting boundaries you must learn to say no to things that you are not comfortable with. You need to learn to take care of yourself and your comfort before any other person.
This doesn’t mean selfishness. It just means you are prioritizing yourself to protect your mental health. You owe yourself the responsibility to take care of yourself, physically and mentally.
Note that, when you do not protect your mental health, it causes so many mental illnesses. These illnesses include depression, and anxiety and can lead to physical harm to your body. These harms include panic attacks and anxiety disorders. etc.
TYPES OF MENTAL ILLNESS
I have already mentioned some illnesses in this article but I’ll be explaining and listing more illnesses.
The most common mental illnesses are:
1. Clinical depression:
Clinical depression is one of the most common and relatable mental illness .It is also known as major depression. This mental health disorder is characterized by persistently depressed moods or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life. some symptoms incudes Persistent sadness, anxious, or “empty” mood. Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism. Feelings of irritability, frustration, or restlessness.
2 Anxiety disorder
This is a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities Examples of anxiety disorders include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). ADHD, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is also associated with heightened level of anxiety.
3 Bipolar disorder:
Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression). This is a disorder associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. It s a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks.
4. Schizophrenia:
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder. It affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave clearly. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling.
How To Uphold universal human right
As earlier stated, the theme for this year’s mental health awareness day is Mental health is not a privilege but a universal right.
Universal rights are things that are entitled to us as human beings. Therefore, that makes mental health an entitlement.
It is what every human being deserves. This means that you have the right to protect and prioritize your mental health. Governments all over the world are enforcing this. You are important, Your mental health is important
If you are being harassed and mentally abused. You can seek professional help and even sue for emotional distress.
How Can You Spread Awareness?
It has been estimated that 14.3 per cent of deaths worldwide, that is approximately 8 million deaths each year is caused or attributed to mental disorders.
Such a shocking discovery right?
I am pretty sure if awareness had been made, the deaths would not have been this much.
Just like I am doing in this article, you need to spread awareness and let people know about mental Health.
Here are different ways you can help create awareness,
1. Sharing this article on social media platforms.
This article is very detailed and highly informative. It encompasses so many things about mental Health. The best way to spread awareness would be to share this article.
2 Talking and speaking on mental Health.
You need to spread the word, and let people know the dangers of not taking care of their mental health.
3. Educate yourself and inform others.
4.Checking your mental health condition and advising others to check their mental health condition
5. Becoming and advising others to be better human beings.
You don’t know what people are going through. It would be best for you to be kind and polite to people. Do not let another human being’s mental health suffer because of you.
That’s it for this article guys, I hope you learnt a lot from this article. Make sure you go ahead and spread awareness, mental health is important!!
credit images to pixel.com and freepiks.com.
