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.
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 psychosocial 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 underfunding, is now more important than it has ever been.
This is why the goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign is increased investment in mental health.
The campaign, co-designed by the World Health Organization, United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health, builds on the concept that, while mental health has been receiving increasing global attention in recent years, the field has not received commensurate investment.
This campaign offers opportunities for all of us to do something life-affirming: as individuals, to take concrete actions in support of our own mental health, and to support friends and family who are struggling; as employers, to take steps towards putting programmes in place for employee wellness; as governments, to commit to establishing or scaling-up mental health services; and as journalists, to tell the world what more can and must be done to make mental health a reality for everyone.
Given the recommendations for physical distancing in place in countries throughout the world, the main campaign activities organized by WHO and partners will take place online.
Similarly we encourage organizers of activities for World Mental Health Day to organize online activities when possible. When in-person activities are held, it is important that measures are in place, in line with national and local authority regulations, for physical distancing and prevention of infection.
On World Mental Health Day, 10 October, the World Health Organization will, for the first time ever, host a global online advocacy event on mental health. At this event—the Big Event for Mental Health—world leaders, mental health experts and celebrity guests will join WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to tell the world what we can all do to improve our mental health and how we can help make sure that quality mental health care is available to everyone who needs it.
During the event, which will be streamed live on major social media channels, you will:
In the lead-up to World Mental Health Day and the Big Event, we will invite you to join the campaign, sharing messages, creating posts showing how you invest in your own mental health, and asking your questions of special guests through live Q and A sessions on social media.
Tune in from one of WHO’s social media channels:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok channels
Start time: 10:00 New York, 16:00 Geneva, 19:30 New Delhi
The Event is expected to last three hours.
Award-winning journalist, Femi Oke, will host the event. She will be joined by mental health advocates and performers including:
Also participating will be national and international leaders who have championed mental health in their own countries:
On 9 October, mental health activists around the world will join a March for Mental Health organized by the nongovernmental organization, United for Global Mental Health. A 24-hour Facebook livestream will feature content from expert voices, people with lived experience and influencers around the world. Listen and be inspired by the dedication of civil society campaigners from 19 countries as they seek to increase awareness of mental health issues, break down stigma and bring about increased investment.
Organizing an activity or event is a great way to raise awareness and stimulate action, among individuals, and on a wider scale. If you decide to organize an event, keep in mind the following:
A historic opportunity exists to place mental health high on the global agenda. Even before COVID-19, mental health was gaining traction among global development priorities. This campaign will build on this momentum, subsequently leading to more active engagement, commitment and investment in mental health, at the individual, national and international levels.