October 10, 2025, carries the designation of World Mental Health Day, also known as World Mental Health Awareness Day. The World Federation for Mental Health set this year’s theme for World Mental Health Day as “access to services – mental health in catastrophes and emergencies.”
The celebration of this day is a reminder that global communities must provide mental health support during all kinds of crises. It calls the world to champion both accessible and quality mental health care during natural disasters, armed conflicts, and other emergencies. Such emergencies present serious impacts on the mental health of those affected. This year, the event calls upon communities to incorporate affordable access to mental health care in efforts to respond and prepare for such emergencies.
The Start of World Mental Health Day
In October 1992, the World Federation for Mental Health established the first World Mental Health Day (WMHD). Since that time, other organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and other grassroots organizations have incorporated the idea.
The annual event is held on October 10 each year to demonstrate global consistency and permit long-term event planning. Activities occur on every continent but may look different in each venue. For example, some groups may hold discussion forums, others may have art exhibitions based on the experiences of those living with mental health issues. Social media platforms encourage story and resource sharing. The UN entered the celebrations when it designated October 10 as its International Awareness Day, a call to action on the topic.
WMHD promotes education on mental health issues. Activities may include raising awareness about mental illness disorders, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Each year, a theme guides the discussion and activities.
Some organizations consider this year’s sub-theme as supporting mental health in the workplace. Many people spend the largest block of their time each day at their workplace. Those workplaces may vary in location from mines to farms to rooftops to hospitals to factories to military deployments or to working remotely at home. Some workplaces are inherently fraught with physical risks, while others provide a greater risk of burnout and stress. Discrimination and sexual harassment in the work environment are also critical issues.
Whatever the workplace environment, poor mental health accounts for the most lost workdays. Even if absenteeism does not overwhelm the workplace, stress impacts worker productivity and personal self-confidence. Those negatives also filter into workers’ everyday lives and often lead to anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicide, and substance abuse.
When it comes to vulnerable populations, the impacts are greater because the inequalities are systemic in nature.
How Employers Support Mental Health in the Workplace
Employers can support Mental Health Awareness Day by inserting mental health support and wellbeing services into the very foundation of their workplace culture. Embedding mental health support means inserting the ideals into the fabric of manager training and creating a safe space for discussions of sensitive and personal themes.
Employer support of Mental Health Awareness Day means setting realistic expectations for workloads, recognizing the positive impact of flexible work schedules, and providing compassionate leave for mental health reasons. Supporting Mental Health Awareness Day in the workplace also means adopting anti-discrimination and harassment policies and procedures and enforcing and protecting those standards.
Global Mental Health Picture
Global mental health is as important as physical health. Unfortunately, mental health often garners less attention, less funding, and less awareness.
For example, depression is a top cause of disability. Suicide is a leading cause of death for young people. On the personal side of the equation, mental illness disorders isolate individuals from family and friends, reduce educational levels, and strip individuals of their dignity and self-respect.
When you extrapolate the impact of mental health disorders beyond the individual, mental health disorders negatively impact families, communities, and employment groups. Spiraling mental illness can lead to, or aggravate, physical symptoms, too. Mental illness can increase unemployment rates, worsen poverty for vulnerable populations, and exacerbate economic disparity.
Studies warrant an emphasis on global mental health and its advocacy on a global scale.
Mental Health Advocacy Means…
The term mental health advocacy refers to the attempts by an individual, organization, or community to:
- Reduce the stigma associated with mental health disorders,
- Improve access to quality mental illness health care, and
- Raise awareness of the importance of mental health disorders, the various symptoms, and available treatment options.
Challenging the stigmas associated with mental illness means dismantling the negative stereotypes surrounding mental illness and reducing the prejudices that impact the lives of people suffering from mental illness disorders.
Mental health advocacy means providing emotional support, physical resources, and the guidance needed to navigate an often-confusing health care system, and to navigate any personal challenges an individual may face.
Mental health advocacy also encourages people with mental health disorders to seek professional help, to share their stories with the wider community, and to become their own advocate for their personal mental health needs.
Mental health advocates may speak out publicly in forums about mental health issues. They may volunteer to work for mental health organizations. They may choose to advocate for local and state legislators in support of mental health funding or other mental health legislative initiatives.
Raising funding to increase access to mental health care is a critical function of mental health advocates. They also perform important work by educating healthcare professionals on the need for increased attention to mental health care.
Advocates also champion legislative initiatives and community policies that promote access to quality mental health care and make healthcare affordable for all community residents.
Refinery Counseling Services Is the Right Choice for You
Refinery Counseling Services LLC (RCS) was established in 2020 and is conveniently located in Columbus, Georgia. We quickly became a premier private therapy practice in the state.
The founders are proud of the formation of this woman-minority-veteran-owned private therapy practice. The practice’s military service experience provides first-hand knowledge about how disability impacts mental health and the difficulties transitioning back to civilian life.
You can take comfort in the fact that all RCS therapists are licensed and have years of relevant clinical experience in psychotherapy. The practice includes a faith-based component for clients who request it. The firm’s counseling staff pledges to provide compassionate care and community engagement that empowers everyone in their care. They also commit to cultural competence in all client-therapist interactions.
RCS adopted its stated mission to empower everybody in its care to become the healthiest person possible and to heal their emotional fissures into more robust mental health. Accomplishing that healing takes into account each client’s personal needs and goals.
RCS provides a wide range of services, designed to meet a variety of client needs, such as the following:
- Individual psychotherapy – heal past traumas, navigate life’s challenges, and acquire coping skills
- Group psychotherapy – consists of a small number of participants sharing personal experiences on specific mental health issues
- Family therapy – rebuild family relationships and embrace healthy interactions
- Child and adolescent therapy – healing childhood trauma or sexual abuse
- Couples therapy – helps sort relationship issues between married couples and unmarried significant others
Therapists provide clients with emotional support for the following mental health issues:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Grief counseling
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Stress
- Suicide survivor support
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Veteran post-service mental health issues, such as coping with re-entry into civilian life, trauma from combat experience, and sexual trauma
- In addition, our therapists tailor treatment plans for each client according to their specific needs and in furtherance of their mental health goals.
We Stand Ready to Help You Heal
RCS therapists and staff stand ready to help you focus on your healing journey. We invite you to contact us today to speak to one of our staff and schedule a free, initial consultation with one of our experienced therapists.
Your initial consultation is an opportunity for you and your therapist to meet and learn about each other. Your counselor wants you to ask questions about their education, licensing, and clinical experience.
Your therapist will assess the state of your current mental health, review your mental health history, and learn about your personal needs. You and your therapist will work together to determine the best treatment plan for you, always considering your needs and your stated goals.
RCS promises to strive to make you feel comfortable with the safe space we create, where you can share your sensitive information and personal thoughts. Before your first consultation, take a few moments to think about the services you need, the environment that makes you comfortable, and the goals you want to accomplish.
We also invite you to read our August 18, 2025, article entitled “Seasonal Transitions and Mental Health: What You Might Be Feeling (and Why).“
For Additional Reading
You can also find other articles of interest on our website’s Refined by Grace blog. We look forward to hearing from you soon so we can show you how RCS can help you succeed on your mental health journey.
