Awareness: World Mental Health Day tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The World Mental Health Day will be observed on October 10 to raise public awareness about mental health issues worldwide and to promote open discussions on illnesses as well as investments in prevention and treatment services. This year the theme for the day is “Depression: A Global Crisis”. Depression affects more than 350 million people of all ages, in all communities, and is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Although there are several treatments for depression, access to treatment is a problem in most countries.  World Mental Health Day is an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH). Mental disorders affect nearly 12% of the world’s population about 450 million or one out of every four people around the world will experience a mental illness that would benefit from diagnosis and treatment.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2012.