What is world mental health day?

World mental health day is a holiday that prioritizes global mental health education and awareness, and advocates against social stigma. The overall objective is to raise the perception of mental health issues around the world and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

The World Mental Health Day movement first started in 1994, with the theme of “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World”. Since then, the day has been celebrated with a different theme each year, to highlight some underrepresented aspect of mental health. The last one, in 2023, was “Mental Health is a universal human right”. Between then, everything from schizophrenia to youth issues to poverty has been spotlighted.

When is world mental health day?

World Mental Health Day is celebrated on October 10th every year. This year, it falls on a Thursday.

World Mental Health Day resources

Here are some things you can do to celebrate World Mental Health Day, both now and when the day comes on October 10th this year:

Prioritize your own mental health

It’s important to take care of your own mental health, and World Mental Health Day is a great time to start. You can start by building basic healthy habits, like getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating healthy. You can also work to build strong mental health habits. My favorite is journaling, which has helped me improve my mental health a lot. I use an app on my phone called baseline to journal, but you can use any medium that works for you.

Prioritize your mental health with journaling

baseline is a 100% free, non-profit operated, journaling and mood tracking service that's designed to help people better understand their mental health by building a journaling habit.

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There are many other useful mental health practices, like meditation and general reflection. Every person is different, so it’s important to experiment to find what works for you.

Educate yourself

There are many resources available online to learn about mental health. You can start by reading some of the articles on this blog, especially our Mental Health 101 article, or by checking out the World Health Organization’s website.

Advocate for mental health

Advocating for mental health can be as simple as talking to your friends and family about their mental health. A lot of people don’t have anyone to talk to about their struggles, and by being that person for them, you can make a big difference. This is a great first step if you want to do something to help, but don’t know where to start.

If you want to do more, you can also volunteer at a local mental health organization, or donate to a mental health charity (like us!). If you’re a student, you can also advocate for mental health by starting an awareness or action club at your school.

I hope this article has given you some ideas for how to celebrate World Mental Health Day. If you want to learn more, check out the rest of our blog!