In recent years, even in the institutions of the European Union, there has been more discussion about mental health, but politically there is a lack of long-term strategies, as denounced by Mental Health Europe, the main non-governmental organization in the sector. The European Commission adopted two years ago a document on the “comprehensive approach to mental health” that Europe should demonstrate.<\/p>\n
The institutional recognition of the issue and the need to consider it not only from a health perspective but also from an economic and social one, should be seen as a positive signal. “Mental health is shaped by people’s lives,” by elements such as “housing, income, work and social relationships, security and also discrimination,” says Kadri Soova, director of Mental Health Europe. Soova and the organization she represents consider the Commission’s document a step forward, but have then taken stock of subsequent actions. “For us, what is really missing is a comprehensive long-term European Union strategy for mental health linked to the EU’s long-term budget, and not simply a collection of various scattered projects,” says Soova. One of the decisive points is to provide for a monitoring mechanism on the effectiveness of funded initiatives, and this is very different from checking boxes on a document: “It’s a bit frustrating because sometimes we hear politicians say this is a strategy, but in reality it isn’t; it’s not just about the title or the details, we need to get to the heart of the matter: how do we measure the success of the actions taken? How does it manifest in society and how can we make it lasting?”<\/p>\n
The need for a political response to the issue of mental health is periodically highlighted by available data. Among the latest to publish a report on this is the European agency Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions), which conducts research on social and labor policies. In the report of September 2, Eurofound attests that suicide rates, after decades of decline, have started to rise again; in the age group between 15 and 19 years, it is the leading cause of mortality. Women report worse mental health and resort to care more often, while men are less inclined to seek assistance despite having a 3.7 times greater probability of committing suicide. Moreover, although the formal right to free or nearly free mental health care is more or less widespread throughout the EU, in fact many people fail to obtain quality care, have difficulty being assisted, especially in rural areas, and psychotherapy for those with mild or moderate disorders is almost always accessible only to those who can pay for it out of pocket.<\/p>\n
The protection of health, not just mental health, in Europe is largely delegated to the governments of member states. But there are margins for action at the supranational level, especially by framing it in a broader perspective than the exclusively health-related one, entrusting the EU with the role of guide and financing for cross-sectoral projects, for example for work or gender equality. At the moment, however, the director of Mental Health Europe has been struck by the fact that regarding mental health, there is mainly talk about two topics, among others. First, there is a lot of pressure on the theme of digital innovation: “You see many pilot projects and other flashy things around. But what we really need is joint action and long-term initiatives that unite different policy areas. And we also know what works,” says Soova, listing, for example, low-threshold services in communities, peer support, better qualified primary care, and psychological support networks: “Sometimes I’ve noticed that we’re building sophisticated digital platforms that should help service providers choose between different options. But first, we should create these options.” The other recurring theme is what schools can do to protect the mental health of young people: “There’s a lot of talk about schools and their role, and it’s all correct. But they are already extremely overburdened, they don’t need another app they have to integrate or get used to using.” Consequently, as long as the situation remains as such, educational institutions “won’t be able to absorb and bring about changes in a meaningful way.”<\/p>\n
So what really works in the long term? Mental Health Europe’s answer is the Columbus’s egg of social and health policies: workforce training, services closer to communities. Soova also adds that it is necessary at the European level to understand what it means to support mental health services centered on people’s human rights. “It’s important that this work is connected to deinstitutionalization goals; for Italy, obviously, it’s a given but for most of Europe it’s not quite like that, we haven’t gotten there yet.”<\/p>\n
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