Under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, and in the presence of over 700 visitors, the National Committee for the Care of Psychiatric Patients organized the program of the Open Entertainment Day, under the theme: “Caring for them is their right, and our duty.” Held at Thumama Entertainment Village, the ceremony involved many events and sections, the Theater Program held in the meadow, the Open Corners, the Corner of Psychiatric Patients' Friends, aiming to attract those interested in (and concerned about) psychiatric issues. That's to be added to the Child Corner, presenting lots of activities, including face drawing, clowns, painting with sand, painting beds with watercolors, and distribution of balloons. It aims to promote the child's character, by granting him a large space for innovation through arts, and rewarding them for their artistic production.
The ceremony included, also, the Popular Corner, in which visitors could visit the Exhibition, and get food, in addition to the Innovation Corner, and the Psychiatric Patients' Production Corner, mainly intended to improve the stereotype about the psychiatric patient, within his family and community, by shedding light on his production and innovation. It is also meant to raise the awareness of family members, and the entire community, of the necessity of work and production for psychiatric patients, by regarding it as a major factor for the stability of the patient's psychological state, in addition to enhancing the patients' positive perspective of their own selves, by presenting their products before their families, as well as others, to prove and emphasize their ability to work and produce. Patients have to feel it is crucial to go on working, considering the positive effect of this feeling on their psychological state.
The Corner of Psychiatric Patients' Friends seeks to give rise to this idea by forming a working group of those interested in (an concerned about) mental health. This group shall be well aware of the mental-health-related issues, the demands and requirements of psychiatric patients, in a way that enables them to work effectively in reality, through various support programs for psychiatric patients.
To that end, the Corner of Psychiatric Patients' Friends received much interest during the Open Entertainment Day, by way of attracting a number of patients' families, those interested and involved in the developments of mental health, in order to engage them in the Committee's activities.