Policy Dialogue #26: “Towards a comprehensive approach to Mental Health” with Commissioner Stella Kyriakides

Data dell'ultima modifica Martedì, 21/02/2023

To mark the 2022 European Year of Youth, European Commissioners are meeting with young people to hear their concerns, perspectives and proposals to tackle some of todays’ most pressing challenges. In this framework, Commissioner Stella Kyriakides is chairing on 22 February 2023 a dialogue with young people.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, high prices and energy costs, it is natural that many citizens across the EU feel isolated, lonely and anxious.  

The numbers are a stark reminder of this reality. In the EU, already before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems affected over 85 million EU citizens. 

To counter this, we need ambitious and coordinated steps to preserve and protect everyone’s mental health, especially the most vulnerable among us: young people, the elderly, displaced persons, those in challenging socioeconomic circumstances.

In her State of the Union speech last year, President von der Leyen called for a new and comprehensive approach to mental health. Protecting mental health is an investment in our people, our economies and our future. There is no health without mental health.

How can we achieve this ambitious aim? How can we work with Member States and stakeholders to do so? How can we work together to better listen to each other, and build inclusive, equal societies that reject stigma, and ensure that support is always available? 

These are just some of the questions to be addressed in this dialogue. Young people will have the opportunity to exchange on their experiences, and provide suggestions and insights into the ways we can truly move towards a new approach to mental health that truly delivers for all EU citizens. 

Watch the event live on 22 February from 14:30 to 16:30 via the European Commission live stream page or via the European Youth social media accounts.