About World Mental Health Day
10 October is World Mental Health Day, the annual recurrence of WHO’s campaign to celebrate the advancements in this field and raise awareness of upcoming mental health priorities.
This year’s #WorldMentalHealthDay focuses on “Mental Health at Work”, highlighting the protective factor for mental health played by safe and healthy working environments. Unhealthy contexts are strongly associated with stigmatisation, discrimination, harassment and other poor working conditions, posing significant risks and affecting mental health. This, consequently, can result in an overall decrease in quality of life and work productivity.
Workers’ health and safety must be an urgent priority for governments, employers, and worker unions to improve mental health at work, aiming for a meaningful involvement of all parts. Everyone should have the opportunity to thrive at work and in life: to achieve this, investing efforts and resources in evidence-based approaches is a pressing step to be taken.
EFIC Initiatives on Pain and Mental Health
For this year’s World Mental Health Day, the European Pain Federation EFIC and the European Association of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Treatment (EACLIPT) will hold a joint webinar on 14 November 2024 at 12.30 pm CET. Experts in mental health and chronic pain will share the latest insights on improving working environments and ensure a supportive spirit between all team members. Register for “Navigating Pain and Mental Health: Strategies for a Supportive Workplace” here.
The next EFIC Congress 2025 – Pain in Europe XIV is themed on ‘Comorbidity of chronic pain and mental health disorders: Breaking the cycle‘. Chronic pain and mental health disorders are frequently correlated and need to be treated adequately, stressing the importance of multidisciplinary in healthcare and enhancing the quality of life, physical and mental, of patients. Our Scientific Programme Committee is putting together a comprehensive and diverse programme covering various disciplines, from cutting-edge research to clinical practice. Learn more about the EFIC 2025 Congress here.
The EFIC Academy Education Platform includes extensive content on the assessment and treatment of mental health issues in patients with pain for physicians, physiotherapists, nurses, and psychologists. Learners are able to pursue self-directed learning or follow specific tracks relevant to their needs. Access is limited to Academy members only.
EFIC is also part of the HaPpY (Comorbidty of Chronic Pain and mood disorders: breaking the vicious cycle) Research Network funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
SIP’s commitment to better Mental Health policies
Pain and mental health has been one of the main priorities for the Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Platform in 2023. SIP published, in May 2023, its SIP Joint Statement on Pain and Mental Health, in collaboration with ten different organisations working in the field of pain, pain-related or mental health policies.
On 10 October 2023, experts were invited to share their insights at a European Parliament event entitled, “Pain and Mental Health: A Societal Impact of Pain (SIP) Event”, hosted by MEP Marianne Vind and MEP Tomislav Sokol and attended by representatives from different EU organisations.
Furthermore, SIP engaged with the Rapporteur and Shadow Rapporteurs of the SANT Sub-Committee Report on Mental Health, ensuring to include the recommendation from the Joint Statement in the final Report, ratified at the Plenary session on 11 December 2023.
In 2024, continuing its effort to disseminate useful resources, SIP released an infographic summarising the main takeaways from its 2023 Joint Statement. You can consult it here.
Find more information about World Mental Health Day here.
