Mental health – Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash
(BRUSSELS) – A new approach to mental health, set out Wednesday by the Commission, looks to put mental health on a par with physical health and ensure a new, cross sectoral approach to mental health issues.
Before the Covid pandemic, mental health problems affected 1 in 6 people in the EU, a situation which has worsened with the unprecedented crises experienced over the past years. The Commission estimates the cost of non-action at EUR 600 billion every year. The pandemic has placed additional pressures on mental health, especially among young people and those with pre-existing mental health conditions.
Against the backdrop of significant technological, environmental and societal changes, affecting people’s ability to cope, the EU executive says action on mental health is to focus on three guiding principles:
(i) adequate and effective prevention, (ii) access to high quality and affordable mental healthcare and treatment, and iii) reintegration into society after recovery.
This comprehensive approach looks at mental health across all policies to recognise the multifaceted risk factors of mental-ill health. Following this approach, concrete actions will cover a broad area of policies and include efforts to:
- Promote good mental health through prevention and early detection, including through a European depression and suicide prevention initiative, a European Code for Mental Health and strengthened research on brain health.
- Invest in training and capacity building that reinforces mental health across policies and improves access to treatment and care. Actions will include training and exchange programmes for professionals and technical support for mental health reforms at the national level.
- Ensure good mental health at work by raising awareness and improving prevention. This will be done for instance through EU-wide awareness raising campaigns by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and a possible future EU initiative on psycho-social risks at work.
- Protect children and the young during their most vulnerable and formative years, in a context of increasing pressures and challenges. Measures include a a child and youth mental health network, a prevention toolkit for children addressing the key health determinants of mental and physical health, and better protection online and on social media.
- Address vulnerable groups by providing targeted support to those most in need, such as the elderly, people in difficult economic or social situations and migrant/refugee populations. A special focus includes conflict-affected populations, notably people (in particular children) displaced from Ukraine and children in Ukraine subject to the trauma of war.
- Lead by example at the international level by raising awareness and providing quality mental health support in humanitarian emergencies.
