When terrible things happen in our communities, we can reach out a helping hand to those who are affected. Every year on 10 October the world comes together with the objective of raising awareness of mental health issues, and to mobilise efforts to support 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.
More information on World Mental Health Day and psychological first aid can be found in this World Health Organisation article, and at the Mental Health Foundation page dedicated to the day. If you are affected by mental health issues, or know someone who is, local support and information is available at the Sheffield MIND website and in the Sheffield Mental Health Guide .
Do you think psychological first aid could improve our mental health? How important do you think psychological support can be? Let us know in the comments below.
