World Mental Health Report

Transforming mental health for all

Mental health is critically important to everyone, everywhere. All over the world, mental health needs are high but responses are insufficient and inadequate. This “World Mental Health Report” is designed to inspire and inform better mental health for all. Drawing on the latest evidence available, showcasing examples of good practice from around the world, and voicing people’s lived experience, it highlights why and where change is most needed and how it can best be achieved. It calls on all stakeholders to work together to deepen the value and commitment given to mental health, reshape the environments that influence mental health, and strengthen the systems that care for mental health.

Executive summary: Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

No health without mental health

Mental health is a lot more than the absence of illness: it is an intrinsic part of our individual and collective health and well-being. As this “World Mental Health Report” shows, to achieve the global objectives set out in the WHO “Comprehensive mental health action plan 2013–2030” and the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to transform our attitudes, actions and approaches to promote and protect mental health, and to provide and care for those in need. We can and should do this by transforming the environments that influence our mental health and by developing community-based mental health services capable of achieving universal health coverage for mental health. As part of these efforts, we must intensify our collaborative action to integrate mental health into primary health care. In so doing, we will reduce suffering, preserve people’s dignity and advance the development of our communities and societies. Our vision is a world where mental health is valued, promoted and protected; where mental health conditions are prevented; where anyone can exercise their human rights and access affordable, quality mental health care; and where everyone can participate fully in society free from stigma and discrimination.