World Mental Health Day 2016

 

Theme: Psychological first aid

World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

​

The Day provides 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.

​

The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day covers “psychological first aid”. Efforts in support of the day will focus on basic pragmatic psychological support by people who find themselves in a helping role whether they be health staff, teachers, firemen, community workers, or police officers.

​

Despite its name, psychological first aid covers both psychological and social support. Just like general health care never consists of physical first aid alone, similarly no mental health care system should consist of psychological first aid alone. Indeed, the investment in psychological first aid is part of a longer-term effort to ensure that anyone in acute distress due to a crisis is able to receive basic support, and that those who need more than psychological first aid will receive additional advanced support from health, mental health and social services. (Source: http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2016/en/)

​

Laotian psychiatrist wins Dr. Guislain Award

On World Mental Health Day, the 5th Dr. Guislain Award ceremony was held in New York. The Dr. Guislain Award is a joint initiative of the Museum Dr. Guislain of the Brothers of Charity and Janssen Research & Development. Read more.

 

Successful World Mental Health Day seminar in Geneva, Switzerland

On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, Fracarita International, in association with the World Health Organization and the World Council of Churches, and under the chairmanship of the Belgian Ambassador to the United Nations, organized a seminar on the topic of ‘Breaking the Chains of Stigma in Mental Health; Restoring Human Dignity for Persons with Mental Illness’. Find out more.

​

List of country offices who celebrate(d) World Mental Health Day:

Several mental health projects of Fracarita International celebrate World Mental Health Day in the month of October. You can find the programmes of our different institutions via the buttons below. We will update the information, so keep in touch!

​

​

 

• Burundi

• Central African Republic

• Ivory Coast

• Tanzania

​

​

​

• India

• Philippines 

​

 

​

• Nicaragua

• Peru

​

​