This is an initiative which shines a spotlight on the importance of children’s mental health. A significant proportion of all mental health disorders begin by the age of 14, and can impede social and emotional development. It is thus imperative to help children recognise and understand their mental and emotional health.
The Lagos Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (May 26) seeks to bring attention to the importance of positive mental health to the quality of life and healthy development of children.
The awareness day serves as one of the Ministry’s strategies to:
- Raise awareness of the importance of community-based mental health and substance use services for children, youth, young adults, and their families.
- Demonstrate how children’s mental health initiatives promote positive youth development, recovery, and resilience; and
- Show how children, youth, and young adults with mental and/or substance use disorders can flourish in their communities.
In 2021, the Ministry focused on supporting mental health conversations between parents/guardians and their children, especially considering the current pandemic, and launched the Mental Health Mascot, “IBILE”