00:00World Mental Health Day on October 10th offers a chance to reflect on a psychological well-being
00:15and speak candidly about mental health.
00:22With mental health in humanitarian emergencies as the campaign theme,
00:27the 2025 edition of this day focuses on the urgent need to support the mental health and psychological needs of people affected by humanitarian emergencies.
00:42The aim is to reach those affected by crises and conflicts when support matters most.
00:48The impact of emergencies like war and natural disasters is a massive for a population that is going through it.
00:57This includes civilians and aid workers.
01:00If we take Gaza for instance, in addition to ensuring the physical safety of our patients and staff to the greatest extent possible,
01:15aid organizations like MSF are also providing psychosocial care to them.
01:18The intensity of long exposure to these traumatic events are shattering the psychological state of Palestinian people in Gaza.
01:29This also includes health care workers who say they come to work not to think about war.
01:35Wars, natural disasters and any other humanitarian crises deeply impact both survivors and responders.
01:42According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction,
01:48in the year 2020 alone, more than 98 million people were impacted by disasters with many suffering serious mental health effects.
01:58So generally what happens that in normal conditions, we as persons, we try to find out, you know,
02:08through difficult situations by connecting with our near and near ones, our relatives, our friends.
02:15But in a humanitarian crisis, the crisis happens to the large mass of population.
02:21And what it does is, it suddenly, you know, it suddenly takes away the social support system that we generally depend on during situations of crisis.
02:33So what we need to do here is, we need to build the support system in and around that event, number one.
02:43Number two, we need to follow the rules of trial.
02:46Experts say mental strain is not only limited to those directly affected.
02:52Constant exposure to news items on conflict and tragedy can also cause anxiety or a sense of hopelessness.
03:00Taking breaks from media, managing what content we consume and seeking help can make positive differences to our mental health.
03:09You see, when you talk about such a crisis, we only think about those people who have been physically been affected.
03:17It's not so.
03:18And people across different ages are affected.
03:21Young people, very young people, you know, very elderly people who had, who have generally very, you know,
03:29very limited amount of coping and going through already different, you know, different challenges, different physical health conditions.
03:41Young people are growing, the brain is growing.
03:43So it leaves a very bad impact, a very, you know, long lasting impact.
03:49And trauma can be, you know, it can be very, very difficult to handle at times.
03:56The trauma is very huge.
03:58Migrants, refugees and crisis affected people face lasting mental health challenges.
04:08Access to care, support and community based help are vital to heal, rebuild and strengthen resilience.
04:17So this World Mental Health Day 2025 is highlighting the importance of reaching out to the most vulnerable.
04:28The World Mental Health Day 2025 is a very important part of the world's health-based health issue.
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