Today is World Mental Health Day, which serves as a day to unite our efforts to improve the mental health and wellbeing of our communities.
This year’s focus is on suicide prevention. Despite suicide being preventable, every 40 seconds, someone in the world dies by suicide. Talking about mental health struggles has many positive effects, including:
- Improving knowledge of what can be done to prevent suicide
- Improving awareness of the significance of mental health problems as a global challenge
- Reducing stigma associated with mental health, and
- Letting people who are struggling know that they are not alone
UCT offers various support services to their staff and students, including free counselling as part of the UCT Employee Health & Wellness Programme. For more information on these services, you can contact Blanche Claasen-Hoskins (021 650 5685) or Susan Williams (021 650 4376).
Mental health awareness is particularly important in the health sector. You can learn more about suicide prevention for health workers here.
