This short interactive PDF document gives different examples of impactful local mental health initiatives around different European countries. It was created for European Mental Health Week 2023 with the purpose of sharing some of the wonderful initiatives that different communities are enacting around the continent.

Download the document here 

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.