Awesome Mind Speaks held its fourth edition of the Generational Perspective Dialogue (GPD) in honour of the world mental health day.
Mental Health experts that attended the dialogue on October 10th at Goethe-Zentrum called for safe spaces in order to fight mental illnesses among young people.
The dialogue was held under the theme: Sustainability and scalability of the mental health in Uganda.
Roy Ronald Tumwizere, a board member at Awesome Mind Speaks, whose mind differed not from other panelists, said creating a safe space where mental health challenges can be discussed freely should be prioritized.
Roy also noted that more men are committing suicide than women and urged them to open up and seek counseling.
Joan Patience Atuhaire a psychologist said there is need to support people with mental health challenges as opposed to stigmatizing them.
“There’s need for more supportive structures to support people suffering mental health challenges especially suicidal ideation. Now more than ever, we need to support these people and not stigmatize them through the words we say or financial deprivation we expose them to,” Joan advised.
The panelists at the fourth Generational Perspective Dialogue called for a review of the mental health policy, and also urged the public to utilize cheap counseling alternatives.
According to Ministry of health and Uganda Counselling Association, 14 million Ugandans with mental health illnesses were registered at different health centers.
The Generational Perspective Dialogue was started in 2019 to champion mental health and this year’s edition was the fourth.
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