Publications

 

MIGRAINES AND MENTAL HEALTH IN WOMEN: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE 

The project is a collaborative effort between GAMIAN-Europe and the European Migraine and Headache Alliance. This report aims to shed light on the profound impact and treatment journeys of women who face the challenges of living with both migraines and mental health issues.

Download the document here 

 

 

DEVELOPING TRUST AND EFFECTIVE CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA: PATIENTS AND PSYCHIATRISTS WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

This report presents the findings of a two-year project developed by GAMIAN-Europe and the European Psychiatric Association focused on enhancing the therapeutic relationships between patients with schizophrenia and their psychiatrists.

 

Read the interactive version of the booklet here

Download the document here 

 

Top Tips for Supporting your Brain Health

Brain health is a critical part of our overall health. It underlies our ability to communicate,
make decisions, problem-solve and live a productive and useful life. The brain processes around 70,000 thoughts per day and it is, not surprisingly, interlinked to our mental health and well-being.

This guide offers top tips for supporting your brain health and is focused on: Sleep and Relaxation, Mental Fitness and Social Interaction

 

Read the interactive version of the booklet here

Download the document here 

 

A report on cancer & depression: the perspectives of patients, informal carers and clinicians

Depression is a comorbid disabling syndrome known to affect between 10 to 20% of cancer patients. Some estimates indicate that rates could be as high as 58%. Depression in individuals with cancer has been associated with poorer health outcomes and when left untreated, an increased likelihood of early death.

This report presents the findings of two workshops and a survey carried out by GAMIAN-Europe, in collaboration with the European Cancer Patient Coalition, on depression as a cancer co-morbidity. You will find testimonials from patients with depression and cancer, clinicians and carers; as well as recommendations for mental health and generalist healthcare services and governments.

 

Access the live publication for interactive reading here.

Download the report here.

Things about Suicide that Young men must know

Sometimes life can make you feel lost, overwhelmed, incredibly down and even suicidal. But remember, while there is life there is hope.

This interactive toolkit is meant as a safe space to help you or anyone you know find the resources you need when you’ve hit your lowest point. 

You are not alone and remember when things get tough:

“Soak up the views. Take in the bad weather and the good weather. You are not the storm.”

Matt Haig

 

Read and download toolkit here

 

Are Mental Health Needs Being Met by Treatment Services? COVID-19 Survey II Report

Our first COVID-19 survey highlighted the pandemic’s impact on mental health for people with a pre-existing mental health condition. Since then we took the initiative to see what is happening post-COVID-19; whether patient needs are being met, how mental health services are being delivered and to seek the perspective of mental health professionals.

In collaboration with the European Psychiatric Association, GAMIAN-Europe created a second survey reaching out to members of both organisations and to the general public for their experiences during the past 12 to 18 months. We asked patients and clinicians about their mental health, access to and delivery of mental health services, whether treatment needs are being met and the challenges and pressures to delivering services.

The survey was translated into 11 languages and over 350 people responded. Our findings show the continuing difficulties, but we also describe some of the positives. These have been drawn together in this report, which include key recommendations for mental health services and policy makers.

 

Read the full report here

 

Finding and Achieving Quality of Life Beyond a Mental Health Condition: Top Tips

It is more important than ever, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, that people with mental health problems are able to maintain good quality of life.

This booklet includes top tips for those who experience a mental health condition to help improve their quality of life and think about their sense of belonging and place in society.

It is based on two discussion workshops with people with lived experience of a mental health condition, and carers. The learning from those experiences and what people with a mental health condition found most useful are captured in a list of ten top tips at the end of the booklet.

 

Read the full booklet here

 

The little book of big conversations (Breaking Depression)

Open and honest conversations about depression are an important step towards ensuring that people get the support they need. However, we understand that starting these conversations can be daunting and knowing where to begin can be difficult.

That’s why we have collaborated with Janssen and EUFAMI to develop The Little Book of Big Conversations, as part of the Breaking Depression project. This digital book is full of small pieces of practical advice to help make those big conversations about depression a little bit easier.

 

Read the full book here

 

The impact of COVID-19 on pre-existing mental health patients: A survey report

This report gives an overview of the findings for an online survey carried out between September and December 2020 by GAMIAN-Europe; during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey aimed to find out the initial impact of the pandemic on people with pre-existing mental health conditions; asking about changes to their mental and physical health, whether they had contracted the virus, any difficulties with accessing healthcare and who gave them the most support. The online survey was translated into 13 languages and sent to individuals via GAMIAN-Europe member organisations.[1] 

This survey provides an important contribution to many of the existing and ongoing surveys to specifically see how the pandemic has affected people with mental health problems from a pan-European perspective. In understanding the consequences of the pandemic on this group we can ensure people receive the right support at the right time for their mental and physical health, in a way that is appropriate for them in meeting their needs.

In this report we present the findings of 551 people who responded to our survey of just over 30 questions.[2]

[1] The survey was translated into the following languages: Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.

[2] All percentages are based on the number of people responding to each survey question, which varied as not everyone responded to each question.

Read the full report here

 

Schizophrenia Companion Guide II – Perspective of People with Schizophrenia and their Carers

The Schizophrenia Companion Guide II has been designed to provide practical advice to people with schizophrenia, and their caregivers, friends and family. It includes tips at the end of each section on how to manage a variety of situations that commonly arise. Some additional resources are listed in the appendix at the end of the guide.

The information used for this companion guide is based entirely on first hand experiences of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, along with carers, relatives and friends and it describes how they have learned to manage and live with this condition. These experiences were gathered through an online survey carried out in 2020.

This guide is a follow on from the first Schizophrenia Companion Guide produced by GAMIAN-Europe in 2016 which provides a comprehensive overview of schizophrenia, including symptoms and treatment.Even though there is some overlap with the first guide, the current guide includes more personal experiences of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, carers, friends and family; their discoveries and the strategies they used as part of their journey.

 

Read the full guide here

 

Developing trust and effective care for people with depression: Patients and Psychiatrists working in partnership – Sept. 2020

The project represents an important joint partnership between GAMIANEurope and the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) and a way to strengthen this through joint working to improve the therapeutic relationship between patients and psychiatrists. The aim was to explore the patient-clinician relationship in a pilot project from the perspective of both the patient and their psychiatrist as individuals; and to explore their ‘paired’ experience in relation to developing trust, shared decision making regarding treatment, and positive and negative experiences of their meetings. 

 

Read the full report here

 

A Pocket Guide to Agitation and What to Do in a Crisis – Apr. 2020

This pocket guide is for people who experience agitation, their carers and close friends. This brief guide compliments the full version which can be accessed via GAMIAN-Europe and EUFAMI websites.
It provides key information on how to recognise the early signs and symptoms of agitation and what to do if a crisis occurs.
There is a crisis card at the end of this guide that can be used to provide emergency contact details and preferences for treatment and care during an episode of agitation.
The pocket guide is available here in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

 

Read the full Pocket Guide here

 

Understanding and Managing Agitation – Sept. 2019

A guide for patients and carers

This guide has been produced as part of a collaboration between GAMIANEurope and EUFAMI and aims to provide information for people who experience agitation and those close to them. It includes a description of what agitation is, how it can be managed and what available treatments can help. It is written from the perspective of people with lived experience of agitation and carers,
and also draws on existing research.

 

Read the full Report here

More information on this page

A guide to depression and its treatment – Apr. 2020

This booklet has been developed specifically for people suffering from depression. It has been co-created by people suffering from depression or who have suffered from depression who are members of GAMIAN-Europe (an umbrella group involving patient organizations in different European countries) and by Servier.

 

Read the full guide in English

Read the full guide in French

Read the full guide in German

Read the full guide in Italian

 

Take care and be kind to yourself – Apr. 2020

This booklet has been developed specifically for and with people living with depression. It has been co-created by people suffering from depression or who have suffered from depression and who are members of GAMIAN-Europe (an umbrella group involving patient organizations in different European countries) and by Servier.
Quotes shared in this booklet by the patients reflect their own experiences and do not necessarily reflect medical and scientific evidence or practice. All names attributed to quotes have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

 

Read the full guide in English

Read the full guide in French

Read the full guide in Dutch

Read the full guide in German

Read the full guide in Italian

Read the full guide in Spanish

A Charter for the Rights to Treatment and Care for People with Schizophrenia – Nov. 2019

People living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia are often disadvantaged, vulnerable and experience high levels of stigma and discrimination. It can affect the way a person thinks, feels and perceives the world. It is important to ensure that the rights and expectations of people living with schizophrenia are maintained and upheld; now an urgent priority. The purpose of this Charter is to define the rights, expectations and responsibilities for mental health care and treatment from the persons’ perspective.

 

Read the full Report here

Read the report in Hungarian here

More information on this page

CALL TO ACTION – Sept. 2018

Empowering people affected by mental ill health is beneficial to individuals and their carers. It is also crucial for developing more patient centered, efficient and cost-effective health systems.
This is the key message of this comprehensive Call to Action launched by GAMIAN-Europe.
The Call, developed with the direct input from a variety of leading EU-level and national (mental) health stakeholders, addresses what can be undertaken concretely to overcome the current pervasive disempowering attitudes and behaviours towards people affected by mental ill health.

 

Read the full Call to Action here

More information on this page

A sustainable approach to depression: moving from words to actions

This report aims to identify key factors that will ensure programmes for depression are sustainable and have a lasting impact on people affected. Drawing from the practical experience of 19 case studies and the published literature, we have identified ten lessons learnt that may help policymakers build a sustainable response to depression in years to come.

 

Read the report

Breaking the silence: Sexual health impact on mental well-being

The GAMIAN-Europe survey – Feb. 2018

This report gives an overview on the descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) about the respondents’ background characteristics, mental health / treatment and sexual health. Besides, we perform some crosstab analyses in order to analyse the relationships between the background characteristics and sexual health on the one hand and mental health / treatment and sexual health on the other side.

 

Read the report

Schizophrenia Companion Guide – 2016

No two people with schizophrenia are the same. Every individual is different. Every experience is different. The effects of schizophrenia are also felt by caregivers, friends and family members. Each person affected by schizophrenia will have their own story to tell and their own journey to travel. There may be times when this journey is difficult, but it is a road that many have travelled before. Equally, there is no right way or wrong way to live with schizophrenia but, by learning from the experiences of others, it is possible to prepare for what lies ahead and overcome obstacles along the way. We have developed this booklet through consultation with people with schizophrenia, their caregivers and family members, and healthcare professionals, with the aim of offering practical guidance for people affected by schizophrenia. It will be up to you to steer your own course, but we hope this companion guide will help you find your way.

Download this guide

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