World Mental Health Day

By: Neylin Calderón

Under the motto "For the integral health of the peoples, connected, connects with life", the First Symposium on Mental Health was held at URACCAN Bilwi campus, as a way to commemorate World Mental Health Day, where students from the Career of Psychology in Multicultural Contexts and much of the university community participated.

Dr. Ivania López, coordinator of the area of health sciences at URACCAN-Bilwi, welcomed everyone who became participants in the symposium, "the health of every individual at all stages of life is the basis on which full and fulfilling lives are built," she said, adding that it is important to recognize the difference between physical health and mental health to ensure a healthy and un detrimental society.

On this world day of mental health the central theme was based on "suicide prevention, according to statistics every 40 seconds a person commits suicide", argued Dr. López, that is why, since the career of Psychology in multicultural contexts of the URACCAN in the Bilwi campus, they set out to invite specialists to touch on these issues with student youth.

Closing of the symposium

According to the graduate Teisey Allen, coordinator of the career of Psychology in multicultural contexts, said that making this symposium is in order to raise awareness in the university community that the problem of mental health is a "work of all of us", in this activity there was a group of guests of non-profit organizations that are operating for the health and rights of people in the municipality of Puerto Heads.

One of the main themes addressed at the symposium was "suicide and self-harm (...) emotional dependence, and substance addictions," said Allen, also included that the topics touched on at the symposium are all those that society is not giving it the necessary importance, but that, every day, more cases are seen in today's addiction-related youth, which go all the way to suicides.

"The creation of this symposium has greatly strengthened the bonds of companionships, solidarity and other values, among the boys and girls of the Psychology career, as everyone had to work together with the teachers in order to carry out this activity," Allen concluded.