Every year, October 10 is celebrated as World Mental Health Day. The goal of this day is to raise public awareness of mental health and strengthen support to people with mental health problems.

Considering the current events in the world, “Mental health in humanitarian emergencies” has been chosen as the theme of the World Mental Health Day in 2025.[1] Natural disasters, conflicts and other crisis situations significantly damage people's mental health and increase the demand for services,[2] which requires the State to ensure access to these services.

For years, the Public Defender of Georgia has been indicating the need to improve the rights of people with mental health problems and ensure their access to necessary services. The Public Defender continued to supervise the protection of the rights of persons with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying the needs that persons with mental health problems face during the crisis and emphasizing the need to meet them.

The Public Defender pays special attention to improving the accessibility and quality of psychiatric inpatient services, although the current situation in psychiatric inpatient institutions remains virtually unchanged, and in some institutions, deterioration is observed. The main challenges remain the shortage of beds, overcrowded wards, inadequate physical environment, lack of qualified personnel, separation of mental and somatic health services, lack of information about treatment, inadequate nutrition, and limited psychosocial rehabilitation services. Additional problems are created by issues of ill-treatment, violation of confidentiality and protection of patients' personal space. The problem of patients' access to justice remains relevant.

In addition to inpatient treatment, outpatient services is another challenge. Along with the problems related to the scarcity and accessibility of services, stigma and stereotypical attitudes in society hinder participation in these services. The low level of awareness also creates space for the use of mental health to discredit specific individuals or events, which further damages the state of mental health care in the country and is an affront to the dignity of people with mental health problems. It is especially worrying when stigma is incited by politicians or public figures.

Systemic challenges create additional barriers in the event of a crisis or emergency and require timely response and necessary readiness from the State.

The Public Defender of Georgia once again emphasizes the need to prioritize the development of mental health and calls on relevant state agencies to take timely and effective steps to solve problems existing in the field of mental health, including prevention, improving services, and implementing a human rights-based approach in the field of mental health.

[1] https://www.un.org/en/healthy-workforce/world-mental-health-day

[2] https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2025