Rahael: Take care of yourself

Pointing to the theme for this year, "Mental and Physical Health across the Life Span," Rahael said, "The relationship between physical health and mental health cannot be ignored. An individual who experiences poor physical health at whatever stage of the life cycle is more likely to experience change in his/her mental and emotional well-being."

In his message for the observance, he said mental health problems are faced by individuals of different socio-economic status and cultural practices. Problems may show in different ways, non-threatening (eg suspicious behaviour), acute (requiring admission for treatment) or chronic conditions (requiring support and treatment). Rahael cited a study conducted by the Pan American Health Organisation which found that one in six children saw themselves as generally sad, angry and irritable. He said an abundance of information was available showing the benefits of physical activity on mental health. Some of these include reduction of stress, anxiety, feelings of depression and loneliness.

"An average of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily is sufficient to achieve these benefits."

He said today’s environment encouraged people to adopt sedentary lifestyles. This trend is made worse by the expansion of technology-based games targeting the young population which require mental concentration rather than exertion of physical energies.

Rahael said a significant proportion of health care spending was associated with lack of activity, and this is evident by the increasing incidents of chronic non-communicable diseases including diabetes and high blood pressure.