When Good Intentions Aren’t Enough: The Aftermath of World Mental Health Day

It’s the Day after Yesterday; the Tomorrow that some probably didn’t think would come — the sun having risen to reveal yet another…

It’s the Day after Yesterday; the Tomorrow that some probably didn’t think would come — the sun having risen to reveal yet another grey-skied autumnal morning.

Yesterday was a Big Day, the world proclaimed — a day so Big (caps necessary to Emphasise This) that it had its own name: World Mental Health Day. No, this was not “just another” mid-October Tuesday; this was An Occasion. Special, different, “sending shockwaves”. And, undoubtedly, this was the case to some extent: it is a truth (relatively) universally acknowledged that mental health issues are (and remain) far more difficult to talk about than their physical counterparts.

So, this is progress. The physical presence of the day itself — and its perceived legitimacy — is a big deal, in spite of the ironies that emerge from this, however inadvertently. Namely: part of the problem is the fact that we have — and need — a day in which it is deemed socially acceptable (and, hey, even encouraged! shock horror) to talk about these things.…