Introduction to the Green Paper on Mental Health

On 14 October 2005, the European Commission adopted the Green paper “Promoting the mental health of the population.Towards a strategy on mental health for the EU”.

You can find the text of the Green Paper (in 20 languages!) at the following link:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_determinants/life_style/mental/green_paper/ev_20051024_en.htm

The Green Paper builds on three elements:

1) Activities under past and current EU Public Health Programmes

2) Six mental health-related Council documents since 1999

3) The WHO/Euro Ministerial conference on Mental Health and its outcomes (Declaration and Action Plan).

The key messages in the Green Paper are:

1) Mental health is important for all European Union policy objectives (health, quality of life, economic and social welfare, transition to a knowledge society as stated in the Lisbon Agenda)

2) The development of a EU strategy on mental health at Community level would support the collaboration between member states and would help to increase the co-ordination and coherence of mental health initiatives which have emerged in many different EU policy fields

3) evidence-based options for action to promote mental health and to prevent mental ill health are available. However, they are not known well enough and not sufficiently integrated into European and national policies.

4) serious challenges have been identified:
- the mental health of the EU population is not as good as it should be (high suicide rates in some Member States, increased conduct disorders in children and young people, mental ill health is increasingly often the reason for work absenteeism)
- people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination; their fundamental rights and dignity are not always respected.

The Green Paper has identified the following priorities:

1) to promote mental health and address mental ill health by preventive measures

2) to prevent the major mental disorders and support vulnerable groups

3) to promote the social inclusion of people with mental health problems and protect their fundamental rights and dignity

4) to improve the mental health information and knowledge system for the EU.

In conclusion, the strategy which will emerge from the Green Paper and the consultation process must:

Adopt a holistic approach

Mental health can best be seen as a continuum. An individual's mental health can have many different possible values, mental wellness is generally viewed as a positive attribute but a person may have a diagnosable mental illness, to be seen as the negative end of the continuum. “Mental health” and “mental illness” are not polar opposites but may be thought of as points on a continuum.

Invest in Promotion and prevention

Develop a cultural shift to a positive attitude towards mental health at community level and throughout the health services. Ensure intersectoral collaboration

Tackle the Determinants of Health

Restore the importance of social psychiatry

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