Overview

• Observed on October 10, this year’s theme centers on access to services for people affected by catastrophes and humanitarian crises, with WHO citing roughly one in five in conflict or disaster settings facing a mental health condition.
• The UN Secretary-General called mental health care life‑saving, urging governments to integrate support into relief operations, fund services properly, and deploy trained professionals.
• Clinicians recommend concrete steps for crisis settings, including psychological first aid for responders, mobile clinics, telepsychiatry, continuity of essential medications, and culturally sensitive community support.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed for mainstream conversations on mental health as India highlighted Tele‑MANAS’s round‑the‑clock counseling in up to 20 languages and millions of calls handled, alongside DMHP coverage across 700+ districts.
• Reporting underscores access gaps such as public spending below 2 percent of health budgets and low psychiatrist density in many areas, with additional concerns over adolescent risks linked in studies to earlier smartphone exposure.