October 10 is the World Mental Health Day
40 seconds seen statistically so short is the time interval between two suicides in the world – and it is the topic of the World Mental Health Day 2019
Every year about 800.000 people in the world commit suicide In Germany there are 10,000 every year >which corresponds to one suicide per hour; and every 5 minutes there is an attempted suicide. Men twice as often as women, East Germans more often than West Germans.
For the media suicide is a sensitive issue : if they report about a suicide, imitation cannot be excluded (the so-called “Werther effect”) – people who identify themselves with the story might consider suicide as a possible solution for themselves. However without reporting it, the awareness of suicide remains low. In general, mental illness has long been a taboo subject, especially in Germany. Whereas 16% of the population suffer from a mental illness – most frequently anxiety disorders and depression, both high-risk factors for suicide. But people rarely talk about it, although there are effective therapies and often a little bit of human contact can make all the difference. The most important insight: Suicide can be prevented! By providing enough therapy places, by comprehensive information about depression, by well-trained general practitioners, teachers and managers, who also keep an eye on the psychological well-being of their patients, students and employees. And in case of emergency there is a telephone crisisline for fast and free help.
It’s quite normal to need help from time to time and no sign of weakness but a sign of being human. And this does not only apply to others – in the hectic pace of everyday life unfortunately one often forgets about oneself. The most important prevention is to take your own health seriously, especially your mental health. This is best done through an active search for fulfilling themes and a conscious (and grateful) enjoyment of life’s beautiful moments. Not only deeper meaning, commitment and appreciation but also nature, exercise, nutrition, sleep and the little, precious things in life. Mens sana in corpore sano.
World Mental Health Day was first established in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health WFMH, an international NGO present in 90 countries, to promote awareness of mental health worldwide and to strengthen prevention and intervention. In addition to the WFMH, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also strongly committed to the topic of mental health and has chosen suicide as the theme for this year‘s 10 October 2019.
Around the world, organizations arrange lectures, conferences, concerts and meetings. In many countries, events spread over a whole week around 10.10., as in Germany. The Week of Mental Health by Aktionsbündnis Seelische Gesundheit lists events all over Germany on its website. And for the Munich residents among us, the 7th Munich Week of Mental Healthfor will take place from 8 to 18 October, with a trade fair on Saturday, 12 October from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gasteig (admission free).
Maybe you will find an event that interests you to get involved with others. Or you can do something for yourself and arrange to meet friends for dinner or start the project that has long been close to your heart. And if you still lack the right platform for this, we look forward to your registration on zentor.
Sources:
- Global Burden of Disease Study (https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Mental_Health_Day
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suizid
- https://aktionswoche.seelischegesundheit.net
- https://www.woche-seelische-gesundheit.de
- https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2019/10/10/default-calendar/world-mental-health-day-2019-focus-on-suicide-prevention
- https://wfmh.global/world-mental-health-day-2019/
- https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2019-02/suizid-ostdeutschland-verzweiflung-sterberate-maenner-integration