Activists have made a renewed call for more efforts towards better understanding of mental health in the Rwandan society.

Today – Monday, October 10 is World Mental Health Day, an annual event marked globally to create awareness and mobilise support for those experiencing mental health issues.

This year, the global theme for the day is: "making mental health and well-being for all a global priority,” and it is aimed at creating an opportunity for people with mental health conditions, activists, governments, employers, employees and more stakeholders to come together to recognise progress in the field and talk about what is needed to ensure that mental health and well-being becomes a global priority for all.

Locally, a number of events are being organised throughout the month of October, aimed at raising awareness about mental health.

An example of such events is one organised online by the University of Rwanda (UR)’s Centre for Mental Health on the 13th of this month, with conversations focusing on getting perspectives from practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to reiterate the need for early mental health support services for children and adolescents in rural and urban communities.

Speaking to The New Times, Professor Vincent Sezibera, Director of UR’s Centre for Mental Health, said they will also have campus tours and community outreach activities during the month of October.

"We are targeting to have a big event in Gasabo, Nyagatare and Musanze, where we will involve the association of those who were either consulting or being treated at CARAES Ndera (Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Caraes Ndera) but are now discharged so that they can share their experience,” he said.

He pointed out that such outreaches are aimed at educating people about mental health, and fight against the stigma that negatively affects the behaviour of seeking assistance.

"Some people may die from home without going to seek assistance because they fear being stigmatised. Others may not seek assistance because they have limited knowledge on mental disorders, symptoms, treatment, causes,” he noted.

"All these activities that we are organising are aimed at making people understand that they should seek treatment for mental health needs, just as they seek it for malaria,” he added.

Patrick Murenzi, the Program Manager of Mental Health Journal Rwanda, a youth-led organisation that promotes mental health through research, writing and community outreaches, also told The New Times that there is need to raise "awareness in Rwanda so that people will know what mental issues are, what depression, anxiety is, how they affect people and so on.”

"When you talk about mental health, many people are not aware of what it is, and it would be critical to educate them,” he noted.

Mental health issues seem to be on the rise locally. Recently, Ndera Neuro-Psychiatric Teaching Hospital said that since the beginning of this year, it has received 7,817 patients battling depression compared to 1,743 recorded last year.

Majority of the new cases are middle aged people between the ages of 20 to 39 years of age.