The World Mental Health Day is marked on October 10. By founding this day, the World Federation for Mental Health aims to raise public awareness of mental health issues and mobilize efforts to support the development of the field. This year, the main theme of October 10 is “Mental health for all! More investment - more access.”[1]

Raising public awareness and reducing stigma about mental health, as well as developing services focused on social integration and rehabilitation of people with mental health problems, providing appropriate psychiatric and narcologicalservices for mental and behavioral disorders caused by the use of psychoactive substances, ensuring the enrollment of inpatients in the universal health care programme and providing necessary human resources in the field of psychiatry remain unresolved challenges in Georgia. No deinstitutionalization or suicide prevention strategy has been developed so far.

„All these problems are gaining special importance in the context of the pandemic. Therefore, it is important for the state to make more efforts to offer accessible psychological services to the population, especially for those in self-isolation and quarantine areas,“ the Public Defender said.

„We join the Office of the Public Defender in Georgia and release a joint statement to stress again that it is important to raise the voice against the stigma that has a deep root in our societies. It is time to mobilise all our efforts,“ said Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.

About a billion people worldwide suffer from mental health problems. According to the World Health Organization, at least one member in each fourth family has mental disorders and despite the magnitude of the problem, only a small percentage of people have access to quality medical care.

[1] https://wfmh.global/world-mental-health-day-10-october-2020/