“Work and mental health, a fundamental link.” The motto of Mental Health Day 2024 is simple, direct. Basilio García, president of the Ceuta Mental Health Association (Acefep), reminds us that “visibility is the first step to raising awareness” and in the case of mental health, nothing normalizes it as much as a dignified work life.
The entity has prepared a series of activities between October 10 and 27 that will delve into this topic. Practical dynamics and conferences will culminate with the celebration of the XI Acefep Solidarity Race: 4,300 steps for mental health.
Together with Ana Belén Núñez Fernández, manager of the entity, the president of the association has elaborated on the program and its motivations.
And employment allows those whose mental health has been affected in some way to “move from the role of patient to the role of worker.” “There is a very marked seal of a psychiatric patient, which does not happen in other specialties,” says García, who gives his own case as an example.
Obviously, he points out, “it also improves socioeconomic conditions,” providing not only self-sufficiency, but “self-esteem,” he goes on to list about the need to normalize mental problems. “To overcome this stigma, we must take into account that they are a natural phenomenon, even the most delirious images,” he says about issues about which “we should not feel guilt and rejection.”
Regarding work, he continued, the routines it generates, as well as the resolution of the problems it proposes, allow the mind to “evolve” instead of “entering a loop where symptoms repeat.”
Thus, it constitutes “the best way to overcome the limitations imposed by prejudices”, which he has compared to “a mirage”: It seems that the obstacles are there until you reach them and… they disappear.
But it is not the only relationship between work life and mental health. It is significant to note that in 2023, 600,000 sick days were recorded due to problems associated with mental health, which in the eyes of Acefep has two readings: a suffering shared by many, but also the plight of a system on the verge of collapsing.
At this juncture, the association understands that the celebration of a World Mental Health Day helps to “improve the image of the group”, whose most media problems always reflect “dramatic cases that do not correspond to the real image”, which is the that is experienced in Acefep: “That of people who train their skills to be able to participate in society as full members.”
A varied program
Núñez has elaborated on the program of the conferences in which Acefep will put all this on the table to shake the consciences of the people of Ceuta who “are more a month than a day.”
They will begin on October 10 with a battery of activities open to the public in the Plaza de los Reyes from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There will be prizes, questions and participatory dynamics to see “what shortcomings we have in the workplace” or “what undermines the place where we spend a large percentage of our lives” such as our workplace.
There will be no shortage of institutional events such as the reading of the manifesto by a family member of an affected person, on the same day at 7 p.m. On the part of the public administrations, it will be the turn of the Government Delegate, Cristina Pérez, to speak, since every year she alternates between the local and the state.
On the 17th, three colloquium tables will be held, an idea that is “closer” to the population than a large conference. In them, the speakers will share experiences from the point of view of both employees and employers. “It can be very enriching because the people affected do not always have it easy, but sometimes society brings out the best,” said the manager.
On October 27th it will be time to put on your shoes for the XI Solidarity Race, for which registration is open – and will remain open until the 15th of this month. “Mental health is closely linked to physical health,” recalled Núñez, who pointed out that the registration fee – 12 euros for adults and 6 for children – helps to co-finance the programs developed by the entity.
On October 10, registration will also open to participate in the XVI Poster Contest for young people between 13 and 20 years old. Those interested can sign up until November 8. It is about designing an awareness poster that helps combat the stigma and discrimination that comes with being a person with a mental health problem, promoting a positive image. The winning work will receive a prize for its author and will support the entity’s awareness-raising and anti-stigma actions. All information will be published shortly with the bases, delivery periods and specifications, as well as the registration form.
Both spokespersons have also taken the opportunity to present their solidarity calendar, now on sale through Acefep. Once again, the images that lead each month have been captured by Solidarity Photographers, who have focused on the landscapes of Ceuta. “We are fortunate to have these environments from which it is increasingly difficult to draw new approaches,” García commented with some humor about the geographical limitations of a city that is “lucky” to have “such magnificent landscapes.” Like every year, the price will be six euros and will be available from today.