Break the stigma surrounding mental health and ensure everyone was aware of the shocking figures, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca urged yesterday.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-to-29-year-olds, according to the World Health Organisation, while over 300 million people live with depression, up more than 18 per cent between 2005 and 2015.
Addressing a conference held by an organisation representing psychiatric and mental health nursing groups within Europe, the President insisted on the obligation, as stipulated in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to reduce by a third the premature mortality from non-communicable diseases.
“We must do more to tackle these realities, with effective educational strategies among all relevant stakeholders, including our schools and educational authorities,” she said.
Ms Coleiro Preca recounted how, one day, she was invited to an art exhibition where she was surprised to learn that the middle-aged artist behind it was someone she knew and who was receiving care at Mount Carmel Hospital.
With the cooperation of the hospital staff, she invited him to continue to paint in a private garden at San Anton Palace and he soon became the artist-in-residence.
We must do more to tackle these realities, with effective educational strategies among all relevant stakeholders, including our schools and educational authorities
After just one year of visits to San Anton, he felt empowered enough to leave the hospital and today enjoyed semi-independent living at a hostel.
He recently launched an exhibition of his own work at the palace and some of his work also featured in Richmond Foundation’s mental health first aid publication.
For the President, this is an effective example of what could be achieved by involving service users and bringing communities together. Ms Coleiro Preca told those present for the fourth Horatio festival that working as a team, across society, they provided essential life-improving and, sometimes, even life-saving services.
It is the third time the event, held over four days, is being organised in Malta, co-hosted by the Maltese Association of Psychiatric Nurses.
The organisation was formed after two psychiatric nurses from Malta and the Netherlands sought the support of other national psychiatric nursing organisations to start a network. This led to the setting up of the Psychiatric Nursing Work Group, which eventually became Horatio: European Psychiatric Nurses.
MAPN president Pierre Galea also spoke of stigma when he addressed the event, this year themed ‘Working in partnership’ and held to coincide with the Mental Health Awareness Week.
Stigma, he said, was not limited to the marginalisation and differential treatment of those with mental health issues. Professionals within the sector also did not get the acknowledgment, resources and funding they needed to continue caring for people with mental health issues, Mr Galea noted.
“Maybe this is because mental illness is seen as less detrimental, less treatable and less common. However, we all know that is not the case,” he said.
According to WHO, mental problems are one of the top public health challenges, affecting about 25 per cent of the population every year.