With all the development that is taking place in our world, and the large amount of psychological and social pressures that a person is exposed to during his life’s journey, some may ignore these pressures and move away from finding solutions to treat them. This neglect turns into a dangerous indicator on the psychological and physical level, and according to the statistics of UNHCR, around one billion people around the world suffer from mental health problems, which is the most neglected aspect of health care. Therefore, based on the slogan “Making mental health & well-being becomes a global priority for all” and with the aim of educating the community about the importance of mental health and its impact on physical health, GOPA-DERD’s team in Tartous and As-Suwayda implemented recreational activities for a group of elderly women who faced certain pressures during their lives, and field visits to more than 40 working women without a breadwinner in their workplaces, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day.

In Aleppo, our team organized an open activity for a group of women, which included various segments with the aim of raising awareness about the importance of mental health.

Since art and music play a major and important role in maintaining mental health, our team in Al-Haffah, Jableh and Da’atour in Rural Lattakia implemented a number of recreational activities and awareness sessions on the importance of mental health.

Our team in Hama also discussed the types of mental disorders and ways to prevent them, by carrying out an awareness session presented by a specialized psychiatrist.

With the participation of a number of young men and women, our team in Homs carried out a discussion session to promote the concept of mental health. In addition, a set of relaxation exercises and their use in relieving psychological stress were implemented.

In both the southern and northeastern areas, GOPA-DERD  team carried out a set of awareness, recreational activities and physical games in al-Hol camp in al-Hasakah and in Jibab, Izra’a in Rural Daraa This took place in cooperation with UNHCR.

Since psychological stress has a great impact on adolescents, our team, in cooperation with NCA, implemented a set of recreational activities for more than 160 young people and women in several villages in Wadi Al-Nasara.