European mental health policy should target everybody

Abstract

In this issue, Fears and Hoschl underline the opportunities for strengthening the research base of psychiatry in light of the recent mental health policy actions on EU level. The mental health statement by the Federation of the European Academies of Medicine (FEAM), representing academies of medical science in 13 EU Member States, highlights the relative underfunding of brain research. However, the statement also raises a concern that European mental health policy is being sidetracked by strong stakeholders from the psychiatric community with an interest in policy support for the development of mental health services and treatments. Such a development weakens the legitimacy of EU mental health actions, and detracts the focus from population mental health and EU-wide actions on mental health determinants. Mental health is not merely the absence of mental disorders, but a mental resource of importance for the well-being of individuals, families and societies. In spite of their public health impact, mental health issues were largely neglected in the international public health agenda until the 1990s. Then, to introduce successfully mental health issues on the European political agenda, a new approach was developed.1 Neither the high prevalence of mental disorders, nor the need for more resources in psychiatry were used as entry points, thus avoiding the stigma associated with mental disorders. Instead, it was stressed that mental health is an indivisible part of public health, and it has a significant impact on countries and their human, social and economic capital. The aim was to raise mental health from its professional, organisational and even political isolation to a broader sphere of public health, i.e. to shift the focus from the individual level towards strengthening the mental health approach at the population level. It was stressed that mental health should cannot be reduced to an issue about mental disorders. …