International Youth Day 2014

International Youth Day

https://en.unesco.org/

The mental health of young women and men is important for the health of society as a whole."  

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

Today we celebrate the International Youth Day. The United Nations define “youth” as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. 

Youth is a period of dramatic change, and the journey from childhood to adulthood can be complex, raising a host of mental health issues.

Youth with mental health conditions can often experience stigma and discrimination, which in turn can lead to exclusion and/or discourage people from seeking help for fear of being negatively ‘labelled’. Efforts are needed to overcome this stigma to ensure that young people with mental health conditions can lead full and healthy lives free of isolation and unnecessary shame, and that they openly seek the services and support they need.

Theme 2014: "Youth and Mental Health."

The theme of this International Youth Day is “Youth and Mental Health,” under the motto Mental Health Matters.

Mental Health Matters

https://en.unesco.org/

Aims:

"UN DESA, through the Focal Point on Youth, and the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, promotes a multi-dimensional approach to addressing the challenges faced by young people with mental health issues, including tackling stigma and promoting social inclusion to enable all young people to achieve their aspirations and goals."

UN

Education:

"I was depressed and paranoid", "I was anxious and out of control", "I had severe depression, I couldn't get out of bed and had difficulty speaking to large groups of people".

These are the experiences of a group of students struggling with their mental health while at university, and they're not alone.

Blogging students | The Guardian

Mental health problems are common among students: one in five consider themselves to have a mental illness

The lack of dialogue leaves many sufferers feeling isolated. 

From 12 June until International Youth Day on 12 August, the United Nations ran a campaign to draw awareness to the importance of reducing stigma surrounding youth with mental health conditions. 

Depression
credits: Getty Images

http://www.theguardian.com/

I am sure that you have joined the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to help raise awareness;

You used your artistic talents to raise awareness and sent a work to the Mental Health Matters Campaign.



Some information:

Selected written, photo, video and artwork entries will be chosen to be included in UN publication ‘Social Inclusion of Youth with Mental Health Conditions’ launched on International Youth Day and in our poster design for our IYD event. 

Selected written, photo, video and artwork entries will be showcased at UN event on 12 August at UN Headquarters, and online, via Pinterest and Facebook throughout the campaign. 

If not, you are still on time to raise awareness. 

Depression

via Google Images

Activities :

• Call on your school, college, organization or community to create and improve services and programmes tailored for youth with mental health conditions.

• Ask your school, university or community centre to hold a discussion about mental health

• Create an “info point” about youth with mental health conditions in your town/village, at your high school, youth club or university.

• Organize a Google+ Hangout or online chat to discuss for instance stigma and discrimination that youth with mental health conditions often experience.

http://www.un.org/

Raise awareness via social media : 

Of course you can be a campaigner as well! Use #MentalHealthMatters and #UN4Youth, and join UN on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Don't forget to check the map of the events around the world.

Mental Health Matters! In Youth Day, let’s use this opportunity to raise awareness about the difficulties facing young women and men, and to support them so that they can fully achieve their aspirations.

You can be part of these efforts !

G-Souto

12.08.2014
Copyright © 2014G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®



International Youth Day 2014 by GinaSouto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.