World Mental Health Day 2025
Friday 10 October is World Mental Health Day and this year, the theme is 'Access to services - mental health in catastrophes and emergencies'.
The College's role in international disasters
Read our great blog post about what the College does to support mental health care during international disasters and why.
Written by Professor Mohammed Al-Uzri and our Director of Professional Standards, Elen Cook, who oversees the College's international work on the staff side, the blog post gives examples of how the College has helped our international members on the scene, and the people affected around the world.
Complex humanitarian emergencies: mental health and psychosocial response
This World Mental Health Day, we are highlighting this free e-learning module, which will help our membership have a better understanding of their role in complex emergencies, in keeping with international guidelines.
The module, on the College's eLearning Hub:
- outlines the impact of complex emergencies on mental health and the main tasks of a psychiatrist in this setting
- emphasises the need for cultural humility and sensitivity, as well as coordination with all other actors, particularly national and local actors
- discusses the lessons learned from studying epidemiology, evidence-based practice and mistakes made, giving examples to show how these have informed current responses.
Patient information on traumatic events
Coping after a traumatic event
Traumatic events are incredibly common, and around one in three adults in 萝莉视频 report having experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives. The Coping after a traumatic event resource explains what makes events traumatic, the effect these events can have on your mental health, what to do if you experience a traumatic event, and when to get further support.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a severe mental illness that can develop if someone is exposed to a traumatic event. The Post-traumatic stress disorder resource looks at what PTSD is, why it happens, and what treatments are available.
Translations
We have also translated these resources into 29 languages, which can be found on our translation page or with our resources for international disasters.
2024 activity
The theme for World Mental Health Day 2024 was 'It is time to prioritise mental health in the workplace'. Below you can see some of the content we produced.
Video: Global mental health, stigma, and emergency response with Professor Mohammed Al-Uzri
Professor Mohammed Al-Uzri, Presidential Lead for Global Mental Health at RCPsych, discussed the stigma faced by mental health professionals, the College’s global strategy priorities, and how psychiatrists are frontlining in emergency situations to provide vital mental health support.
Press release: 87,000 people with a severe mental illness have died from preventable physical health conditions in three years
We called on the Government to take urgent action to close the mortality gap between people with severe mental illness (SMI) and the rest of the population.
Specifically, the College wants the Government to increase access to physical health checks through additional services such as community health hubs, better integration between physical and mental health services and more support for marginalised groups, who struggle to reach these services.
Press release: 15% of households taking time off work due to mental ill-health
Related to the theme of mental health in the workplace, the College also recently called on the UK and Devolved Governments to address the unprecedented impact that mental illness is having on working-age adults across the country.
This follows a survey commissioned by the College which revealed that 9% of adults have had to take time off work due to mental health issues in the last year.
Mental health information in other languages
We're pleased to offer translations of our mental health information resources for patients and carers in a range of languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Urdu and Welsh.