Healthy minds, stronger Europe

Policy Brief

This policy brief and recommendations were launched at the event “Healthy minds, stronger Europe” on October 10 at FEPS.

Mental health is emerging as one of the defining public policy issues of our time. Across Europe, rising rates of anxiety, depression, behavioural addictions or the risk of suicide – particularly among young people – reveal the urgent need for systemic solutions. In particular, the intersection of mental health with addictions, digital technologies and the psychosocial risks at work forms a complex web of challenges that transcend traditional health policy boundaries. As mental health risks differ between genders, with distinct causes, symptoms and ways of coping, special attention needs to be paid to the gender dimension. Tackling mental health challenges, therefore, requires both a gender-responsive and an intersectional approach that cuts across different policy areas, especially health, social and employment policies.

While mental health remains primarily within the competence of member states of the European Union (EU), there is growing recognition of the EU’s role in supporting, coordinating and promoting best practices, especially in the case of cross-cutting issues. The EU can also encourage member states to collect data on mental health trends and monitor the implementation of mental-health-related policies to help reduce disparities and ensure progress is both equitable and measurable with regards to targets agreed at the EU level.

This policy brief and the related policy recommendations draw on evidence, best practices and inputs from experts representing a variety of fields, and they propose a progressive policy framework in support of a comprehensive EU strategy on mental health that addresses all the most relevant stressors and takes a holistic view of the most relevant factors influencing the mental health of Europeans. These policy recommendations focus on three priority dimensions – addictions, psychosocial risks and mental health at work, and digital technologies – as they reflect the most pressing and cross-cutting challenges, with significant social and economic impacts, where EU-level action can deliver meaningful change.

Read the policy recommendations below: