The European Commission recently presented its plan for a new comprehensive approach to mental health, an area that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had focused on in her 2022 State of the Union address and is a key pillar of European Health Union.

With 20 flagship initiatives and €1.23 billion in EU funding from different financial instruments, the Commission will support Member States by prioritizing people and their mental health, the Commission points out with Ursula von der Leyen stressing that “the Our European approach, the first of its kind, places mental health on the same level as physical health and outlines everything we do to ensure that support is accessible and affordable to everyone who needs it.”

This approach is a first and important step in equating mental health with physical health and in ensuring a new, interdisciplinary approach to mental health issues. The vice-president of the Commission, Margaritis Schinas, said that “today we are presenting an integrated, human-centered approach to mental health. Our announcement is an important step towards a healthier Europe, where the psychosocial needs of the most vulnerable in our societies are at the heart of our efforts. Solidarity and the protection of the most vulnerable are basic European values, essential components of our European way of life.”

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakidou, pointed out that “there is no health without mental health and there can be no European Health Union without equal and timely access to prevention, treatment and care for our mental health. Today marks a new beginning for a comprehensive, prevention-oriented and multi-faceted approach to mental health at EU level. We must remove stigma and discrimination so that those in need can access and receive the support they need. It’s okay not to be okay, and it’s our duty to make sure that everyone who asks for help has access to it.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems already affected 1 in 6 people in the EU, a situation that has worsened with the unprecedented crises of recent years. The cost of inaction is significant and amounts to €600 billion every year.

Mental health issues: Essentials for dealing with mental health problems

In the context of major technological, environmental and social changes affecting people’s ability to cope, EU action on mental health will focus on three guiding principles:

(i) adequate and effective prevention;

(ii) access to high quality and affordable mental health care and treatment and

iii) reintegration into society after recovery.

This integrated approach examines mental health across policies to identify the multifaceted risk factors of mental health. Following this approach, specific actions will cover a broad policy area and include efforts to:

• Promoting good mental health through prevention and early detection, including through a European initiative to prevent depression and suicide, a European Mental Health Code and enhanced brain health research.

• Invest in training and capacity building that strengthen mental health across policies and improve access to treatment and care. Actions will include training and exchange programs for professionals and technical support for national mental health reforms.

• Ensuring good mental health at work by raising awareness and improving prevention. This will be done, for example, through EU-wide awareness campaigns by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and a possible future EU initiative on psychosocial risks at work.

• Protecting children and young people during their most vulnerable and formative years, in a context of increasing pressures and challenges. The measures include a child and youth mental health network as well as better protection on the internet and social media.

• Focus on 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. Actions also focus on conflict-affected populations, in particular people (and especially children) displaced from Ukraine and war-traumatized children in Ukraine.

• Leading the way internationally by raising awareness and providing quality mental health support in humanitarian emergencies.