October 10 happens to be World Mental Health Day. Observed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) since 1992, it is a day to raise awareness on mental health and wellbeing, and the efforts to be taken to eradicate the stigma associated with mental health ailments.
This year, the day will be centered around exploring the availability of mental health resources in an "unequal world." The theme, which is chosen by the WFMH members, and was announced by the President of WFMH, Dr Ingrid Daniels sought to create dialogue about mental health facilities in a world where the gap between the rich and the poor has only increased.
"This theme, chosen for 2021, will highlight that access to mental health services remains unequal, with between 75% to 95% of people with mental disorders in low- and middle-income countries unable to access mental health services at all, and access in high-income countries is not much better," said the WFMH in a statement while also claiming that the lack of initiative and investment from those in power leaves the issue untreated.
The day also marks the ghastly massacre of 800 gypsy children at the Auschwitz concentration camps in German-occupied Poland in the year 1944. Gypsies were also considered expendables under Hitler's Nazi regime, simply because they didn't belong to the "master race" or the Aryans. And while he didn't have the "Final Solution" for them, as he did for the Jews, Hitler still ordered the extermination of almost 1.5 million gypsies during his reign of terror.
