The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment observed the ‘World Mental Health Day’ on 10th October 2019.
The theme of World Mental Health Day-2019 is ‘Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention’.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 800,000 people die by suicide every year, making it the principal cause of death among people in the age group of fifteen to twenty-nine years old.
According to the National Mental Health Survey of India, 2016, the prevalence of mental disorders was 7.3% among 13-17 years old.
Suicide is a global public health problem that demands focused attention from all the actors related to the field of mental health, including scientific and professional organizations, organizations for mental health users, universities, national health authorities, media, etc.
The underlying idea behind observing this day is to establish and form relevant strategies that can prevent suicide and promote the public’s mental health, as suicide is preventable and therefore, can be avoided.
On this occasion, the Department (DEPwD) has prepared a series of activities that will be undertaken during the week by its various national institutes to raise awareness about mental health issues including identification of early signs to prevent aggravation and then start the rehabilitation/mainstreaming of successfully cured mentally ill persons.
World Mental Health Day is organized by the World Federation for Mental Health (an international membership organization that was founded in 1948 with the aim to promote the advancement of mental health awareness & prevention of mental disorders).
