Mental Health Promotion, Ecosystems and Minorized Lenguages

Promotion of Mental Health is a comprehensive strategy and a set of positive activities, aiming to

1. a) enhance the value and visibility of mental health at the different level of societies, sections of societies and individuals; and
2. b) protect, maintain and improve mental health.

The second part of activities can also be called mental health promotion proper. Mental health promotion strives to find and enhance factors and processes that protect mental health and to reduce factors harmful for mental health. It puts special emphasis on participation and empowerment and on inter-sectoral co-operation. It can work with whole societies, communities, social groups, risk groups or individuals, using different kind of strategies. Effective mental health promotion should result in improved well-being, less human suffering, a lower incidence and prevalence of mental disorders, better use of services, higher quality of life, improved social functioning, enhanced social integration, and in other related outcomes.

• ECOSYSTEM and minorized languages
• Keeping minority language is also an important part of the human ecosystem. Perhaps the maintenance of minority languages, is a key indicator of a proper policy for the promotion of mental health policies

Methods in mental health promotion

·         Health education to the general public, including lessons on mental health issues

·         Enhancing social support systems, for example school health care, counselling services, social work, enhanced co-operation between school and home

·         Training programmes and courses for key actors, like community leaders, teachers, workers in employment services

.              Skills training (coping skills, problems solving skills, social skills)

·         Social advocacy: dialogue with experts, community representatives, key authorities and decision makers

·         Work with mass media, providing relevant material and influencing the way they write about mental health issues

·         Encouraging self-help activities on different mental health issues

·         Specific measures of support, for example peer support in schools, workplace mental health promotion

·         Individual and family counselling

·         Creation of low-threshold services

·         Expert consultation for different settings, like day care, schools, primary care, social welfare and employment services.