World Mental Health Day has already begun in some parts of the world.

Mental and emotional health is a big component of our everyday life, yet it often is pushed down or minimized as something that doesn’t really matter. Some of us are taught from an early age that it’s inappropriate to express our emotions, or that only positive emotions can be shared.

But our inner life — our emotional, psychological and mental self — connects our thoughts, our feelings and behaviors together. When one of these things gets out of whack, so can our lives.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated October 10 as World Mental Health Day to help spotlight the lack of care mental disorders often receive around the world. We hope to help increase awareness of these disorders and their treatment through hosting an annual “blog party” that celebrates this day, our diversity, and our commitment to mental health care.

Over the next 24 hours, in conjunction with our partners at the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, we will highlight dozens of blog entries from around the ‘net and globe here and on our World Mental Health Day 2012 Blog Party blog.

Please join us — share with your friends and family, and spread the word (by tweeting about #mhday or posting on your Facebook page) — and help us defeat the prejudice, discrimination and stigma that accompanies lots of mental health care in the world today.

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 2 comments.
You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts.

Trackbacks

From Psych Central's website:
World Mental Health Day 2012 Coverage – PsychCentral.com (blog) | Health News (10/9/2012)

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 9 Oct 2012
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.