Overview: Práh Jižní Morava will call for public awareness and confrontation of mental health issues in October. Photo: Freepik.
Brno, 10 Sept. (BD) – Práh South Moravia will organise the 21st Mental Health Days awareness campaign in Brno from 10-14 October, with the aim of de-stigmatizing mental illness. All events are open to the general public and professionals, and will be presided over by Jiří Kasala, South Moravian Regional Health Commissioner, and Jana Leitnerová, regional councillor for social affairs.
The aim of the Mental Health Days is to provide the public with accurate information about mental health and illness and to break the stigma and prejudice against people with mental illness. The program will include seminars, lectures, discussions, author readings, and public film screenings, as well as an exhibition on de-stigmatization to be held from 3-27 October at the South Moravian Regional Office building in Brno’s Žerotínovo náměstí.
Most of the events will take place at Café Práh, which provides jobs for people with mental illnesses, thus helping them to return to work. There will be lectures by experts and people with their own experience of mental illness.
On Monday, 10 October, the programme will start in the café’s large hall with a screening of the Croatian documentary film Neighbours (Susjedi), which presents the return of people with mental health problems to normal life after decades in an institution. The film will be followed by a discussion on mental health care reform led by Jan Kozak from the National Institute of Mental Health. For practitioners, a seminar on the crisis services system in the South Moravian Region will be held on 11 October in the café’s large hall, and on 12 October, lawyers from the Ombudsman’s Office will give a lecture on breaches of personal and sensitive data protection for clients. On 13 October, in the small hall of the café, there will be an author’s reading by Markéta Dohnalová, alias Michaela Malé, together with her personal story of living with schizophrenia, followed by a discussion on the topic of living with mental illness and the recovery process.
On 14 October, at the end of the Mental Health Days, the rehabilitation centre will organise an event for children called “Crossing the threshold of autumn”, as well as a program of games and sports activities in Práh South Moravia’s autumn garden at Tuřanská 12, Brno. Children will also have the opportunity to enter the centre’s craft workshop and create their own ceramics with the help of instructors.
The Mental Health Days campaign is an annual reminder of the importance of mental health. The program provides participants with the opportunity to talk about relevant issues and find ways to improve their situation, and also motivates the public to become more aware of their mental health and find ways to achieve personal peace of mind.
The campaign is financially supported by the South Moravian Region and the City of Brno. For the full programme of activities, visit: www.prah-brno.cz
