An image to support mental health day, amother with her two children who is smiling

World Mental Health Day and Diaper Need

October recognizes World Mental Health Day on Oct 10, 2019, an important time for awareness around issues that impact individuals globally.

This year the theme is Suicide Prevention. Every 40 seconds, someone dies by suicide – and this year there’s a call to take action and prevent these deaths.

Extreme poverty, which includes experiencing diaper need, contributes to a decrease in mental health and can lead individuals down this dark path.

For example, we remember two parents, depressed and stricken with sickness who left their children in the safety of Sarah’s Covenant Homes and attempted suicide. They survived, and the parents spent months in the hospital and began to recover physically and mentally. Our partners at SCH were highly involved in reuniting this family (read more here).

And we often talk about people still impacted by the devastation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. For example, crisis hotlines reported an influx of calls near the 1-year anniversary last month – nearly 600 a day. Reports list the normal rate as 150 to 200 daily calls before the storm. (read more here).

Diaper need comes with behavioral and emotional consequences, including: 

  • Irritability and crying 
  • Negative peer relationships
  • Parental guilt and frustration
  • Embarrassment
  • Allegations of child abuse/neglect
  • and a negative impact on parent-infant relationships.

We know there’s hope when a family receives a gift of diapers on World Mental Health Day and every day. From follow up surveys sent to our diaper recipients, over half said diapers enabled them to go to work, look for work, go to school or take children to childcare. We also found that the number one benefit to receiving diapers was to reduce stress (55%), followed by making the child happier (51%). Reducing household stress and happier children can reduce risk of depression, anxiety and child abuse.

About Our Disaster Relief Efforts: Jake’s Diapers recognizes that every person is one disaster away from living in a situation that restricts access to basic necessities. We respond when disaster strikes, understanding the need to be clean and healthy after displacement or destruction. Supporting people impacted in this way restores hope and dignity while creating opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life as they rebuild and recover.

Make your impact today! A donation of $16 solves diaper need for moms and babies like the ones in our story

Read more about World Mental Health Day here.