Its the tenth day of the tenth month in the year 2016. Does it mean anything to you? 

It should. It is World Mental Health day. When many people hear about mental health, the picture that comes to their minds first is that of a homeless man in rag laughing all by himself. Through, that is a huge mental challenge but that is not all about it.

Depression is a mental health issue. It is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease and affects people in all communities across the world. Today, depression is estimated to affect 350 million people. The World Mental Health Survey conducted in 17 countries found that on average about 1 in 20 people reported having an episode of depression in the previous year. Depressive disorders often start at a young age; they reduce people’s functioning and often are recurring. For these reasons, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide in terms of total years lost due to disability. The demand for curbing depression and other mental health conditions is on the rise globally.

According to the World Health Organisation, depression is a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, decreased energy, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite,and poor concentration. Moreover, depression often comes with symptoms of anxiety.These problems can become chronic or recurrent and lead to substantial impairments in an individual’s ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Almost 1 million lives are lost yearly due to suicide, which translates to 3000 suicide deaths every day. For every person who completes a suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end his or her life.

With the uncountable cases of internal displacement in different countries for reasons ranging from political to natural disasters, the cases of depression and other mental health crises are on the rise.

That is why this year’s World Mental Health Day theme focuses on 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.

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, says WHO.