Mental Health

A recent study found that happy people may have a lower risk of disease.
Recently, researchers concluded that people with positive mental attitudes display different responses to stress. The findings correlated with similar studies saying that the same people are at a less likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes and depression.
Andrew Steptoe, a professor of psychology at University College London who led the research, said, “The evidence suggests that happier people have a (...)

A new project, funded by the EU Public Health program and entitled "Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Enlarged EU - Development of Effective Policies and Practices" (CAMHEE) has started in January 2007.
Against the background of the Declaration and Action Plan endorsed at the WHO European Ministerial Conference on Mental Health (January 2005, Helsinki, Finland), the project aims to provide a set of recommendations and guidelines for effective child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) (...)

Country partners and Consortium members of the project EMIP (Implementation of mental health promotion and prevention policies and strategies in EU member states and applicant countries) met in Tallinn on 22 and 23 September to discuss the results of the project.
The meeting was hosted by the Estonian-Swedish Mental Health and Suicidology Institute and started with a session dedicated to sharing experiences from Consortium members.
It was highlighted that mental health promotion is beyond (...)

The country partners and Consortium members of the project EMIP (Implementation of mental health promotion and prevention policies and strategies in EU member states and applicant countries) will gather on 22 and 23 September in Tallinn, Estonia, for a final project meeting.
The project brings together eight European networks and twelve national partners committed to sharing models of good practice on mental health promotion and prevention of mental ill-health.
The final meeting in (...)

The Open Society Mental Health Initiative has recently launched a website featuring a Resource Directory with information from global sources on mental health related issues.
The website contains information related to publications, job announcements, conferences and seminars.
It also dedicates a section on mental health per se, looking at user involvement, discrimination, early intervention and employment. Each time, they try to gather best practices and relevant publications. (...)

EMIP Response to the EC Green Paper on Mental Health
The [EMIP project->EMIP partners have submitted a response to the EC Green Paper "Promoting the Mental Health of the Population. Towards a Strategy on Mental health for the European Union."
The project - Implementation of mental health promotion and prevention policies and strategies in EU member states and applicant countries - brings together 8 European networks and 12 national partners committed to sharing models of good practice on (...)

Under the auspices of the World Health Organisation and Mental Health Europe, an international conference on “Social inclusion in Europe: Perspectives and developments in social psychiatry, care for the mentally handicapped and the elderly” will take place from the 7 to 9 June 2006 in Athens.
Organised by the Asklepios European Foundation, the conference will discuss the progress of the psychiatric reform in Europe, present best practices in social inclusion and propose (...)

**Updated with the report from the European Commission on the consultation’s results.**. The European Commission (EC) released in October 2005 a Green paper on Mental Health to launch a broad consultation on mental health in Europe. This should be the first step towards the establishment of an EU-strategy on mental health.
The Commission has issues questions to help organisations and citizens to draft their response:
1. How relevant is mental health for EU’s policy objectives?
2. Would a (...)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) dedicated International Human Rights Day to people with mental disorders, highlighting thereof the prevalence of human right abuses.
Following an increasing awareness that people with mental ill health suffer from violation of their human dignity, the World Health Organisation decided to point out the continuing need to address stigma, discrimination and the consequent social exclusion.
In order to draw attention on the issue, the WHO has designed a new (...)

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted on the 24 June 2005 a resolution calling governments to ensure that fundamental rights and dignity of mentally ill persons are respected.
The Resolution 1460 recalls that many European countries either do not have yet a mental health legislation consistent with human rights principles, or do not implement it.
In line with the World Health Organisation Action plan and Declaration of Helsinki, the Council of Europe particularly (...)