On Friday October 10, 2014, the World Mental Health Day was commemorated as a global initiative for education, awareness and advocacy of mental health. The first World Mental Health Day was celebrated in 1992, and every year thousands of supporters come to celebrate this awareness program to bring attention to the effects on the people around the world who live with mental illness. In some countries, the day is part of a Mental Illness Awareness Week.
At THRIVE, we continue our commitment to providing the very best services to the Gulu community and keeping up to date to current research for mental health. Austin, the junior trauma counselor at the THRIVEGulu center participated in the interactive public dialogue meeting organized by The Refugee Law Project for the World Mental Health Day.
The theme of the meeting was “Mental health challenges in post conflict Northern Uganda.” At the event, research on depression was presented and discussed as well as other mental illnesses common in post conflict areas, such as schizophrenia. There were various guest speakers including numerous mental health professionals and specialists from the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital-Mental Health Department and Gulu University.
Amongst the group discussions, there were goals suggested which might help strengthen the local mental health community since mental illness continues to increase around the world. Specifically in the Gulu district, there is a need for increased building facilities for mental health professionals as well as the need for more peer counselor training to offer greater support in the community.
The World Mental Health Day is a wonderful opportunity to bring awareness to the plight many face. Many people live with the daily challenges of mental illness personally or have a loved one who does. Even with the increased awareness initiatives and the public passing of those who have lost the battle with depression, there is still significant need to further progress to remove the stigma of mental illness. As suicide and mental illness continues to increase in Uganda in recent years, we are more committed than ever at THRIVE to continue our efforts in decreasing the negative stigma and support the healing of the Ugandan people.
By Laura McBride
