This World Mental Health Day, let us make the health of our minds a global priority.
The world is witnessing growing social and economic inequalities, conflicts and civil wars, violence, and public health emergencies affecting whole populations. All this threatens any progress towards improved well-being.
World Mental Health Day is celebrated on October 10 every year to raise awareness about mental health around the world, and this year’s theme is ‘Make mental health for all a global priority”. While mental health is becoming a global priority, do you take enough care of your own mental health and well-being?
Making mental health a global priority enables mobilisation of efforts to support those experiencing mental health issues around the world.
Read this poem below and recite it in your mind as if you were singing it to yourself.
Hello myself
The inner me,
Are you listening
Are you free?
What is it that you hold inside
Some pain or some sorrow?
Forget about the forgone past
Forget about tomorrow
Today, are you breathing
The air that you must?
Filtering away the sadness
Just like you filter dust?
Today if you hold strong
Tomorrow will be better,
Take out your pen and paper
And write yourself a letter
A letter to tell yourself
That you are stronger than you think,
Life is uncertain and so is the pain
It can change in seconds of a blink
Speak to your family
A colleague or a friend,
Their words may turn out powerful
For your pain to end
Turn on the music
Or dance your heart out,
Run wild in the open
Sing, scream or shout
Shout out loud
To make everyone aware,
That just like physical health
Your mental health needs care
Write simple, talk simple
No jargon or confusion,
We work best or better
When our mind and body are in fusion
Within you is a rainbow
Colourful and bright,
When everything looks dark,
You are the only light.
Stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to social inclusion and access to the right care. Collectively, we can all play our part in increasing awareness about which preventive mental health interventions work for us and how they may suit individual and societal needs.
Together we can move mountains, but to have the will to move mountains you need to have a ‘stronger you’.
Therefore, whenever everything looks dark and black to you, remember that you are the only light. Though there are always people around us who are ready to offer us their help, the ignition of light and courage takes place within us.
Travelling plays a profound role in uplifting our mental health and well-being. There is so much to learn from our journeys, therefore, we believe that walking even to the next door small tea shop can teach us some beautiful lessons for life.
YouInVerse is particularly interested in capturing stories of sustainable tourism/travelling intertwined with development and social change. If you want us to cover a story for you or your company on similar themes, please contact us at info@youinverse.org.
You may also like reading these blogs:
Some Tips: Be Kind to your Mind and to Other People too
Body Positivity and Mental Well-being
