EAAD-Best press release World Mental Health Day 2023
Current political and societal challenges such as war, economic crises, climate change and migration can negatively impact people’s psychological health and wellbeing. World Mental Health Day reminds us of the importance of promoting mental health and addressing psychological distress and disorders in these difficult times.
The European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD) is an international, non-profit organisation with 17 full members and 11 associated members from different countries worldwide. Together we are working towards optimising the care for people with depression and preventing suicidal behaviour.
EAAD is offering the following interventions to interested stakeholders and patients:
- EAAD has developed a community-based intervention programme (so-called “4-level intervention”) targeting depression and suicide which has in the meanwhile been implemented in more than 120 regions around the world. An independent research group (Linskens et al., 2022) recently concluded that it is the most promising community-based suicide preventive intervention to date.
- In 2023, the EAAD website, offering information for individuals with depression and their families in 21 languages (including West African languages), received over 1.6 million visitors.
- EAAD offers the iFightDepression® tool, an evidence based online self-management tool available in 17 languages (including Ukrainian, Russian and Arabic languages), offered for free and used already by more than 27.000 patients.
These achievements will be further disseminated in Europe by EAAD-Best (full title: “Adapting and implementing EAAD´s best practice model to improve depression care and prevent suicidal behavior in Europe”), an ongoing EU co-funded project led by EAAD. The main objectives are to disseminate the 4-level intervention to further regions in seven European countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Spain) and to foster the nation-wide uptake of the iFightDepression® tool in all these countries and in Italy as well. To date, activities against depression and suicide have been established in 15 new regions across the participating countries and over 700 new patients started using the iFightDepression® tool.
EAAD is organizing an international stakeholder event on March 4, 2024, in Brussels. All those interested in learning more about best practices concerning depression and suicide are invited. The event will provide practical guidance to those who wish to initiate own community-based intervention activities. It will also serve as a hub to share valuable insights and lessons learnt. The event will also provide an opportunity to connect with national and international stakeholders who play a pivotal role in promoting mental health.
For more information about the event, you can find us on X (formerly Twitter) at @EAAD_Best or you can contact us via email at contact@eaad.net.
