Hopebeat Weekly: September 26, 2023
Join the celebration on October 10th
It is hard to believe it has been 75 years since the World Federation for Mental Health began. Founded in 1948, the World Federation for Mental Health began with members, ‘not of individuals or countries, but of societies’ from 46 countries. Today, with members and contacts in over 90 countries, the organization chronicles the emergence of a global movement, one that has tirelessly championed the cause of mental health awareness, shattered stereotypes around mental disorders, and kindled a beacon of hope for individuals worldwide. Let’s embark on a captivating voyage through time and unravel the historical roots of the WFMH.
I’m a proud representative at the United Nations for the World Federation for Mental Health, serving as a voice for the over 1 billion people around the world with mental health disorders. Next year I will celebrate 20 years since I founded iFred, the International Foundation for Research and Education on Depression Hope, and what a journey it has been. From attending the World Health Organization’s MhGAP forum for many years, to speaking at the UN to get mental health incorporated in the Sustainable Development Goals through my work with FundaMentalSDG, to proving that hope is teachable, I’m in wonder and awe of how far the world has come in the last five years alone.
Kathryn Goetzke and Dr. Gabriel Ivbijaro,
Secretary-General of the World Federation for Mental Health
Please join us on October 10th, as The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) celebrates the 75th Anniversary with a comprehensive campaign with the theme ‘Mental health is a Universal Human Right.
Before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was evident that mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depressive disorders and addictions, were the primary contributors to the global health burden. The impact of COVID-19 has only exacerbated this situation; the distress caused by the pandemic has led to a significant rise in anxiety and depression, affecting almost one-third of adults and half of young adults aged 18 to 24 in 2023.
So the time for action is now.
Visit the WFMH campaign website and use the free tools to elevate this critical message that we must make mental health a universal human right. The time for cohesive, collaborative, inspired action is now. Thank you for joining us in this global activation, and for your passion, energy, and collective work in making mental health a universal human right for all.
Thank you so much!
Keep Shining Hope,
Kathryn
Featured Video
This year's #WorldMentalHealthDay centers on the powerful message that mental health is an innate universal human right.
Find out how you can participate:
Check out our Hope Resources:
Starting where resiliency studies leave off, two psychologists explore the science of remarkable accomplishment in the wake of trauma, revealing the surprising principles that allow people to transform their lives and achieve extraordinary things.
Over four billion people worldwide will survive a trauma during their lives. Some will experience severe post-traumatic stress. Most will eventually recover and return to life as normal. But sometimes, survivors do more than bounce back. Sometimes they bounce forward.
An instant New York Times bestseller
Two spiritual giants. Five days. One timeless question.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships—or, as they would say, because of them—they are two of the most joyful people on the planet.
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Looking at the headlines—the worsening climate crisis, a global pandemic, loss of biodiversity, political upheaval—it can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed.
In this urgent book, Jane Goodall, the world’s most famous living naturalist, and Douglas Abrams, the internationally bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy, explore through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope”: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.
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