World Mental Health Day events highlight importance of resilience
To mark World Mental Health Day � Wednesday 10 October � the Mental Health Promotion Network, which is facilitated by the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA), has organised a series of events which will focus on resilience throughout life.
Keynote speaker, Dr Dorothy Rowe, a well-known clinical psychologist and author, renowned for her work on depression, will be speaking at the events which will take place across the five Health and Social Care Trusts on 8 and 9 October.
Dr Rowe said: �Resilience is a mixture of courage and perseverance. To be courageous we have to feel that we are, in ourselves, valuable and acceptable. To persevere we have to be able to have hope for the future. We acquire the qualities of courage and perseverance in our childhood, depending on what we learn from the adults around us. If we do acquire these qualities, they become a resource upon which we can draw across our lifespan.�
In Northern Ireland approximately one in five people show signs of a possible mental health problem and worldwide 450 million people are estimated to have a mental health or behavioural disorder.1, 2
Deirdre McNamee, Senior Manager for Public Health at the HPA, said: �We can all face problems at some time during our lives and some of us are better able to cope than others. Resilience can offer protection against developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
�Good mental health underpins all health and wellbeing and needs to be protected and promoted. Research by the HPA showed that a higher percentage of people believed they had more control over their physical wellbeing than their mental wellbeing. This illustrates that there is a need to increase public awareness of mental health, promote self-help strategies and awareness of the available sources of help and support.3�
The World Mental Health Day events are aimed at those who are interested in mental health including: primary and mental health care staff, voluntary and community groups, mental health service users and carers.
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Notes to the Editor
For further details about each local event contact:
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust � Margaret Woods, Tel: 028 9041 7400.
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in partnership with the East Down Rural Community Network � Pauline O�Flynn, Tel: 028 4461 2311.
Northern Health and Social Care Trust � Jayne McConaghie, Tel: 028 2563 5575.
Western Health and Social Care Trust � Marie Dunne, Tel: 028 7186 5127.
Southern Health and Social Care Trust � Angela Corr, Tel: 028 3741 2424.
The Mental Health Promotion Network includes representatives from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors. Further details are available at:
www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk/Work/Mentalhealth/alliances1.htm
Further information about mental health in Northern Ireland is available at:
www.mindingyourhead.info
World Mental Health Day has been celebrated annually on 10 October since 1992. The theme for 2007 is, Mental health in a changing world: the impact of culture and diversity. Further details are available at:
www.wfmh.com/wmhday/about.html
For media enquiries contact:
The HPA Press Office on Tel: 028 9031 1611.
1Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Northern Ireland health and social wellbeing survey 2006. Belfast: NISRA, 2007.
2World Health Organization, Mental health and substance abuse: facts and figures. Available at: www.searo.who.int/EN/Section1174/Section1199/Section1567.htm Accessed 27 September 2007.
3Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland. Public attitudes, perceptions and understanding of mental health in Northern Ireland. Belfast: HPA, March 2006.
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