Mental Health as a Public and Legal Concern. Beyond the Clinical Gaze. Who Cares?

This presentation will critically explore the concept of mental health and its implications for law and policy. It will begin by examining how “mental health” is commonly understood, often being conflated with mental illness, and would trace a paradigm shift from a narrow, medicalised perspective to one that emphasises prevention and the recognition of structural determinants. Central to this shift are the ICESCR, which underscores mental health as an essential dimension of the right to health, and the CRC, which promotes a pervasive preventive approach to mental health. The CRPD further advances this shift by focusing, among other things, on the right to prevent mental health deterioration.

Given the shortcomings of current national mental health systems, which struggle to meet the increasing demand for mental health services, and the political guidelines set by EC President von der Leyen for 2024 to 2029, which emphasise the urgent need for preventive mental health strategies and propose a new Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights, the presentation would advocate for a comprehensive, rights-based framework. This framework moves away from reactive systems based on treatment and control towards one that promotes prevention by addressing the social determinants of mental health, in order to create a more social Europe and an environment that supports mental health for all”