World mental health day 2022 palestine refugee youth helping ...

World Mental Health Day is observed annually around the globe on 10 October. Since 1992, the global community unites on this day to raise awareness and reduce the stigma that surrounds people with mental health problems. This year’s theme for World Mental Health Day is ‘Make mental health & wellbeing a global priority for all’.

Mark your calendars for World Mental Health Day, observed annually around the globe on 10 October. To mark the day, Mental Health Europe is delighted to invite you to an event at the European Parliament ‘World Mental Health Day: Migrants, Refugees and Mental Health’.

In line with this year’s World Mental Health Day theme, Mental Health Europe will host a hybrid event at the European Parliament on the 10th of October (14:00 – 16:00) focusing on refugees, migration and mental health.

This event will be co-hosted by MEP Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA) and MEP Estrella Durá Ferrandis (S&D).

Migration is an integral part of inclusive societies. Migrants and refugees can be exposed to various stress factors, which affect their mental health and well-being before and during their migration journey as well as during their settlement and integration. People on the move can face mental health difficulties multiple times, be it disturbing experiences in their country of origin such as war and forced displacement, along migratory routes such as the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea, and during challenging reception conditions with long periods of legal limbo. Most recently, the war in Ukraine has put the spotlight on the short, medium, and long-term mental health consequences of conflict, displacement, and exile.

This year’s event will bring together various stakeholders (policymakers, service providers, and non-governmental organisations) active in the field of migration and mental health. Various key actors will discuss good practices, challenges and how to ensure adequate mental health support in the context of increased migration across Europe.

Now more than ever, we need to ensure mental health for all.

According to Huda, the variety of activities and games available at KKC greatly contributed to resolving behavioral problems, especially behaviors related to bullying. “As a counselor, I understand that the stressful time children in Gaza went through during the May conflict caused psychological trauma,” she noted. Some 256 Palestinians were killed during the devastating 11-day assault on Gaza in May. This included 66 children and – at the height of the attack – 113,000 were displaced. The lasting impact of this latest round of violence builds on already existing trauma from previous assaults and ongoing blockades on the Gaza Strip. The more than two million Palestinians who call Gaza home have lived through four wars in the last thirteen years and this latest assault added another layer of psychological distress on an already traumatized population. An alarming number of the population of Gaza, almost 600,000 of whom are children and youth, display symptoms of severe distress and are at risk of developing mental health conditions and display symptoms of severe distress. UNRWA has implemented mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programming to mitigate the mental health costs arising from the increased need for mental health support and being born by residents of Gaza. This includes individual and group counseling sessions, hotlines for mental health support, afterschool sessions, and the Keeping Kids Cool (KKC) summer camp activities that ran in Gaza throughout July 2021, targeting 150,000 children. This World Mental Health Day, UNRWA underscores the importance of a life lived in dignity and free of the violence of war, remembering that the right to health, education and a dignified life are clearly enshrined in international human rights law. UNRWA also lauds the valiant efforts of mental health care professionals like those who are on the frontlines of service provision in Gaza. Many of them were involved in this year’s Gaza Keeping Kids Cook summer activities, providing vital psychosocial support to tens of thousands of traumatized children. Huda Karret, a school counselor, was proud to work with KKC this past summer. “Helping to put a smile on children’s faces feels so good,” she said. “KKC activities helped children alleviate the psychological pressure they feel.” News Mobilization Network