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A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support.

I often get asked why I decided to spend time highlighting the mental health of children.

With the right help, children have a good chance of overcoming their issues while they are still young and can have the bright future they deserve.

We need, ultimately, to be able to view mental health with the same clear-headedness we show when talking about physical health.

Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It's the final taboo and it needs to be faced and dealt with.

Positive social emotions like compassion and empathy are generally good for us, and we want to encourage them. But do we know how to most reliably raise children to care about the suffering of other people? I'm not sure we do.

Children should be led into the right paths, not by severity, but by persuasion.

People talk about physical fitness, but mental health is equally important. I see people suffering, and their families feel a sense of shame about it, which doesn't help. One needs support and understanding. I am now working on an initiative to create awareness about anxiety and depression and help people.

For mental illnesses, we need better access to treatment and diagnosis.

Mental health can improve overall well-being and prevent other illnesses. And since mental health problems have a serious economic impact on vulnerable communities, making them a priority can save lives and markedly improve people's quality of life.