The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is an international, multi-professional non-governmental organization (NGO), including citizen volunteers and former patients. It was founded in 1948 in the same era as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO). [1]
The goal of this international organization includes;
The Federation, through its members and contacts in more than 94 countries on six continents, has responded to international mental health crises through its role as the only worldwide grassroots advocacy and public education organization in the mental health field. Its organizational and individual membership includes mental health workers of all disciplines, consumers of mental health services, family members, and concerned citizens. At its very outset the WFMH was concerned with educating both the public and influential professionals, and with human relations, with a view both to the health of individuals and that of groups and nations. [1] The WFMH founding document, "Mental Health and World Citizenship", understood "world citizenship" in terms of a "common humanity" respecting individual and cultural differences, and declared that "the ultimate goal of mental health is to help [people] live with their fellows in one world. [1]
Members include mental health service providers and service users. In 2009, the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders, an international network of families of people with serious mental illness, merged with the World Federation. The World Federation has close ties with the World Health Organization. For many years after its founding, the WFMH was the only NGO of its kind with a close working relationship with UN agencies, particularly the WHO. In recent decades, though, a number of international mental health organizations, often limited to members of particular professions, have developed. In varying degree they have filled needs formerly addressed mainly by WFMH. [1] The WFMH envisions a world in which mental health is a priority for all people. Public policies and programs reflect the crucial importance of mental health in the lives of individuals. [1] The first Director General of the WHO, G. Brock Chisholm, who was a psychiatrist, was one of the leaders in forming the federation with the goal of creating a representative organization that could consult with the UN on mental health issues.
The mission of the World Federation for Mental Health is to promote the advancement of mental health awareness, prevention of mental disorders, advocacy, and best practice recovery focused interventions worldwide. Mental health day is celebrated at the initiative of the World Federation of Mental Health and WHO supports this initiative through raising awareness on mental health issues using its strong relationships with the Ministries of health and civil society organizations across the globe. [3] Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is an annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. The week was established in 1992 by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and is now coordinated by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) in cooperation with all its member organizations and many other supporters across Canada. [4]
Event | Year | Location | Theme |
---|---|---|---|
World Congress | 1948 | London, England, UK | Founding meeting of WFMH |
World Congress | 1951 | Mexico DF, Mexico | |
World Congress | 1954 | Toronto, Canada | |
World Congress | 1961 | Paris, France | |
World Congress | 1968 | London, England, UK | |
World Congress | 1973 | Sydney, Australia | Cultures in Collision (25th Anniversary Congress) |
World Congress | 1977 | Vancouver, Canada | Today's Priorities in Mental Health: Knowing and Doing |
World Congress | 1979 | Salzburg, Austria | The Mental Health of Children and Families |
World Congress | 1981 | Manila, Philippines | Mental Health, Cultural Values and Social Development: A Look into the '80s |
World Congress | 1983 | Washington, DC, USA | Personal and social responsibility in the search for mental health: Collaboration between volunteers, professionals and governments in the formation of mental health policy and the delivery of services. |
World Congress | 1985 | Brighton, England, UK | Mental Health 2000 A.D. [Sub-theme: Action Programs for a World in Crisis.] |
World Congress | 1987 | Cairo, Egypt | The Many Worlds of Mental Health |
World Congress | 1989 | Auckland, New Zealand | Mental Health – Everyone's Concern |
World Congress | 1991 | Mexico DF, Mexico | People and Science: Together for Mental Health |
World Congress | 1993 | Tokyo, Japan | Mental Health: Toward the 21st Century |
World Congress | 1995 | Dublin, Ireland | Time for Reflection |
World Congress | 1997 | Lahti, Finland | Cornerstones for Mental Health |
World Congress | 1998 | London, England, UK | Partners for Mental Health: Nations for Mental Health (50th Anniversary Symposium) |
World Congress | 1999 | Santiago, Chile | Interfaces in Mental Health: Poverty, Quality of Life and Society" |
World Congress | 2001 | Vancouver, Canada | Respecting Diversity in Mental Health in a Changing World |
World Congress | 2003 | Melbourne, Australia | Partnerships in Health |
World Congress | 2005 | Cairo, Egypt | Equity and Mental Health |
World Congress | 2007 | Hong Kong SAR, China | East Meets West: Impact of Culture on Mental Health |
World Congress | 2009 | Athens, Greece | Working Together for Mental Health |
World Congress | 2011 | Cape Town, South Africa | The African Footprint in Global Mental Health |
World Congress | 2013 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Social Inclusion through Interdisciplinary Interventions |
World Congress | 2015 | Cairo, Egypt | |
World Congress | 2017 | New Delhi, India | Partnerships in mental health |
World Congress | 2019 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Abordajes inclusivos en salud mental. Clínica, comunidad y derechos. |
Year | Theme |
---|---|
2017 | Mental health in the workplace |
2018 | Young People and Mental Health |
2019 | Mental health promotion and suicide prevention |
2020 | Mental Health for All: Greater Investment – Greater Access. Everyone, everywhere |
2021 | Mental Health in an Unequal World. Together we can make a difference |
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is also characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, often in a social context. Such disturbances may occur as single episodes, may be persistent, or may be relapsing–remitting. There are many different types of mental disorders, with signs and symptoms that vary widely between specific disorders. A mental disorder is one aspect of mental health.
Edwin Fuller Torrey, is an American psychiatrist and schizophrenia researcher. He is associate director of research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) and founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), a nonprofit organization whose principal activity is promoting the passage and implementation of outpatient commitment laws and civil commitment laws and standards in individual states that allow people diagnosed with severe mental illness to be involuntarily hospitalized and treated throughout the United States.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives" and its vision as "a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares". NAMI offers classes and trainings for people living with mental illnesses, their families, community members, and professionals, including what is termed psychoeducation, or education about mental illness. NAMI holds regular events which combine fundraising for the organization and education, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks.
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, more commonly known as The Florey, is an Australian medical research institute that undertakes research into treatments for brain and mind disorders. The institute's areas of interest include Parkinson's disease, stroke, motor neurone disease, addiction, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Autism, Huntington's disease, depression, schizophrenia, brain function in health and disease, heart failure, and dementia.
Professor Christos Pantelis is an Australian professor of medicine who is the Director of the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre.
World Mental Health Day is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. This day, each October, thousands of supporters come to celebrate this annual awareness program to bring attention to mental illness and its major effects on people's lives worldwide. In addition, this day provides an opportunity for mental health professionals to discuss and shed light on their work, making mental health a priority worldwide. In some countries this day is part of an awareness week, such as Mental Health Week in Australia.
Schizophrenics Anonymous is a peer support group to help people who are affected by schizophrenia and related disorders including bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, psychotic depression and psychosis.
Osama El-Rady has been called the founding father of modern psychiatry in Saudi Arabia.
Mental Health Awareness Month has been observed in May in the United States since 1949. The month is observed with media, local events, and film screenings.
Dual diagnosis is the condition of having a mental illness and a comorbid substance use disorder. There is considerable debate surrounding the appropriateness of using a single category for a heterogeneous group of individuals with complex needs and a varied range of problems. The concept can be used broadly, for example depression and alcohol use disorder, or it can be restricted to specify severe mental illness and substance use disorder, or a person who has a milder mental illness and a drug dependency, such as panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder and is dependent on opioids. Diagnosing a primary psychiatric illness in people who use substances is challenging as substance use disorder itself often induces psychiatric symptoms, thus making it necessary to differentiate between substance induced and pre-existing mental illness.
Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) was established in the U.S. in 1990 recognition of efforts by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to educate and increase awareness about mental illness. It takes place every year during the first full week of October. During this week, mental health advocates and organizations across the U.S. join to sponsor events to promote community outreach and public education concerning mental illnesses such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Examples of activities held during the week include art/music events, educational sessions provided by healthcare professionals and individuals with lived experience and/or familial lived experience, advertising campaigns, health fairs, prayer services, movie nights, candlelight vigils, and benefit runs.
This is a timeline of the modern development of psychiatry. Related information can be found in the Timeline of psychology and Timeline of psychotherapy articles.
Ahmed Okasha is an Egyptian psychiatrist. He is a professor of psychiatry at Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt. He wrote books and articles about psychiatry and mental disorders. He is the first Arab-Muslim to be president of World Psychiatric Association from 2002 to 2005.
The Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia (IPA) is the sole Russian non-governmental professional organization that makes non-forensic psychiatric expert examination at the request of citizens whose rights have been violated with the use of psychiatry. The IPA is not a state institution but a public organization, and its medical reports have not a legal but an ethical significance. There is nowhere to refute one's misdiagnosis in Russia. In recent years, the IPA forces restrictions on patients’ rights and transinstitutionalization of those with mental illness.
The study of mental health in the Middle East is an area of research that continues to grow in its scope and content. As of May 10, 2019, WHO study shows over 70 countries and territories across six regions, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen, have prioritized coverage of mental health conditions.
Mental illness is very prevalent in South Africa, yet the country lacks many of the necessary resources and policies needed to execute an effective mental health strategy. Many factors including violence, communicable disease, and urbanisation have increased the prevalence of mental disorders in the country. The way in which these mental disorders are treated has changed over the years.
In the Soviet Union, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place and was based on the interpretation of political dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent.
Eugene Bloor Brody (1921–2010) was an American psychiatrist. Brody was chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Dean for Social and Behavioral Studies at the University of Maryland.
Numerous studies around the world have found a relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health. There are higher rates of mental illness in groups with lower socioeconomic status (SES), but there is no clear consensus on the exact causative factors. The two principal models that attempt to explain this relationship are the social causation theory, which posits that socioeconomic inequality causes stress that gives rise to mental illness, and the downward drift approach, which assumes that people predisposed to mental illness are reduced in socioeconomic status as a result of the illness. Most literature on these concepts dates back to the mid-1990s and leans heavily towards the social causation model.