Political scandals. Corruption. Excessive construction. Noise. Wars. Crime. Traffic. Increased cost of living. These are among the topics we are surrounded by and which often dominate our conversations.

Then, as we try to escape, we scroll through Facebook, Instagram or TikTok and see a medley of perfect-looking happy people on one side of the distorted social media spectrum. On the other end, we see a barrage of strong derogatory comments towards other people.

The two extremes – positivity and negativity – coexist in a warped reflection of life.

All this while we get on with our lives and all the ups and downs reality brings with it. On a bad day, and with the wrong frame of mind, it can feel like the world is a dark place to be.

But wait. What about all the good? All the kind people out there doing so much to help one another. What about our loved ones, our passions? The sunshine is there – we just need to look and see it.

This is why, ahead of World Mental Health Day, the Richmond Foundation asked us to shift our focus on the good things in our lives.

It urged people to stop for 10 minutes and do something fun – from a 10-minute gym session, meditation or deep breathing exercises to a 10-kilometre cycling expedition. It could even be allocating 10 minutes to pen a positive note for yourself or a friend.

But what Richmond asked was not just to be positive for the sake of it. The campaign had a wider, more altruistic, purpose.

Following the 10-minute activity, people were encouraged to donate any amount they could to the foundation to keep providing free therapy to those who need it – but cannot pay for it.

Because not everyone can see the sunshine alone.

Some people need professional help. As we know, mental health problems are on the rise but the services are lacking.

Last year, the foundation provided 504 such sessions – up from 73 in 2020.

In the first six months of this year, 336 therapy sessions were provided to individuals who could not afford them, marking a projected 820 per cent increase in four years.

Not only that, in just three years, Richmond has had to double its therapists’ complement and quintuple its therapy space; and they still cannot cope.

This worrying situation is not just unique to Richmond. The Chamber of Psychologists recently voiced concern about the “crisis in mental health services”, where waiting lists keep getting longer and psychologists are burned out.

There is a lack of investment in the mental health services. There is a lack of resources to support people as they face the challenges brought about by a changing world – one that mirrors an illusion of happiness and perfection in a world that is not perfect. A world in which it has become too easy to get desensitised to other people’s pain.

Here is the chance to stop and think, even if only for 10 minutes, about the positive in our lives and about those people who struggle to see the positive in theirs.

This is not about ignoring the bad things or pushing problems under the carpet. On the contrary. It’s about seeing the good and facing the bad. It’s about learning how to navigate a reality in which the positive and the negative things in our lives exist because they are both equally real.

It’s about learning how to cope, reaching out when we can’t and helping those who are struggling.

We all have a part to play. The government has to ensure the resources are there. And we can take a few moments to really look at the people around us with open eyes and an open heart.