World Mental Health Day
Next: October 10, 2027
Ask twice: how are you, really?
The story
Where it comes from
World Mental Health Day was first observed on 10 October 1992. It was started by the World Federation for Mental Health as a yearly day to speak up for mental health and to teach the public about it, an idea of the federation's then deputy secretary general, Richard Hunter. In its first years the day was marked with a two-hour programme broadcast around the world by satellite, with callers joining from as far apart as Australia, Chile and Zambia. A yearly theme was added in 1994.
How it's celebrated
Governments sign proclamations, health services run campaigns, and communities hold events of every size, from banners in Kathmandu to a week of talks in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp. Many people wear a green ribbon, the international symbol of mental health awareness. The simplest way to mark it is personal: check in on a friend, ask how they really are, and listen to the answer.
Did you know
- The World Health Organization estimates that more than a billion people live with a mental health condition, and that anxiety and depression are the most common.
- In Palau, the government has printed a World Mental Health Day message on public servants' pay slips for the week of the day.
- In the day's first year, the first ladies of 11 countries joined a support committee chaired by Rosalynn Carter; by the third year there were 31.
Coming up next
- Thanksgiving (Canada) · October 11, 2027
- International Day of the Girl Child · October 11, 2027
- Sports Day · October 11, 2027
- Luciano Pavarotti's Birthday · October 12, 2027
- International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction · October 13, 2027
- World Sight Day · October 14, 2027