October 2023 - World Mental Health Day

The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign by the World Health Organization is that mental health is an essential part of our overall health and wellbeing. Good mental health means that we are better able to socialize, function, cope and thrive. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in eight people worldwide suffers from a mental illness. Although mental illness can be treated effectively at relatively low cost, the gap between those who need care and those who have access to it remains significant, and coverage of effective treatments remains extremely low. One of the reasons for this is that many people are afraid to go to the doctor. Those living with mental illness often face human rights violations, discrimination and stigmatization. As a result, millions of people around the world suffer in silence and are severely impaired in their daily lives. This is despite the fact that mental health is a fundamental human right for all people. Everyone, regardless of who they are and where they are, has a right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. This includes the right to protection from mental health risks, the right to available, accessible, acceptable and high quality care, and the right to freedom, independence and inclusion in the community.

To draw attention to this, three postal organizations around the world (Aruba, UN, Spain) have issued stamps this year on the theme of “mental health”. You can decide for yourself which stamps you think are the most beautiful. I chose the stamps from Aruba because they combine basic mental health attitudes with motifs and colors that make you feel happy. They focus on the themes of “Letting go” (100 cents), “Breathe” (220 cents), “Recover” (320 cents) and “Feel free” (420 cents). The UN series has a modern design and the individual stamps have “Confusion” (New York), “Rainy days” (Geneva) and “Mood swings” (Vienna) as their theme.