The theme for this year's World Mental Health Day, to be held October 10,
is "Mental and Physical Health Across the Life Span." The theme
reflects the growing recognition by physicians and researchers in all parts of
the globe that mental and physical health are inextricably linked.
The World Federation for Mental Health, which sponsors the campaign, hopes
participants will be better equipped to "change policy, practice, and
service-delivery systems to ensure that mental health needs and concerns
receive the level of priority necessary to reduce the burden of disease
associated with serious mental disorders." The federation notes in a
press release that inadequate attention to and integrated services for
co-occurring physical and mental disorders are problems in affluent countries
as well as undeveloped ones.
Information about World Mental Health Day, including fact sheets and
educational material, is posted at<www.wmhday.net>.▪