The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is an international, multi-professional

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

(NGO), including citizen volunteers and former patients. It was founded in 1948 in the same era as the United Nations (UN) and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO).

Aims

The goal of this international organization includes; *The prevention of mental and emotional disorders; *The proper treatment and care of those with such disorders; *And the promotion of mental health The Federation, through its members and contacts in more than 94 countries on six continents, has responded to international mental health crises through its role as the only worldwide grassroots advocacy and public education organization in the mental health field. Its organizational and individual membership includes mental health workers of all disciplines, consumers of mental health services, family members, and concerned citizens. At its very outset the WFMH was concerned with educating both the public and influential professionals, and with human relations, with a view both to the health of individuals and that of groups and nations. The WFMH founding document, "Mental Health and World Citizenship", understood "world citizenship" in terms of a "common humanity" respecting individual and cultural differences, and declared that "the ultimate goal of mental health is to help eoplelive with their fellows in one world. Members include mental health service providers and service users. In 2009, the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders, an international network of families of people with serious mental illness, merged with the World Federation. The World Federation has close ties with the World Health Organization. For many years after its founding, the WFMH was the only NGO of its kind with a close working relationship with UN agencies, particularly the WHO. In recent decades, though, a number of international mental health organizations, often limited to members of particular professions, have developed. In varying degree they have filled needs formerly addressed mainly by WFMH. The WFMH envisions a world in which mental health is a priority for all people. Public policies and programs reflect the crucial importance of mental health in the lives of individuals. The first Director General of the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

, G.

Brock Chisholm George Brock Chisholm (18 May 1896 – 4 February 1971) was a Canadian psychiatrist, medical practitioner, World War I veteran, and the first director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). He was the 13th Canadian Surgeon General and t ...

, who was a psychiatrist, was one of the leaders in forming the federation with the goal of creating a representative organization that could consult with the UN on mental health issues. The mission of the World Federation for Mental Health is to promote the advancement of mental health awareness, prevention of mental disorders, advocacy, and best practice recovery focused interventions worldwide. Mental health day is celebrated at the initiative of the World Federation of Mental Health and WHO supports this initiative through raising awareness on mental health issues using its strong relationships with the Ministries of health and civil society organizations across the globe. Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) is an annual national public education campaign designed to help open the eyes of Canadians to the reality of mental illness. The week was established in 1992 by the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and is now coordinated by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) in cooperation with all its member organizations and many other supporters across Canada.

List of presidents

John Rawlings Rees John Rawlings Rees, (25 June 1890 – 11 April 1969), also known as 'Jack' or 'J.R.', was a British civilian and military psychiatrist. Early life Born in Leicester to the Methodist minister Reverend Montgomery Rees and his wife Catharine Mi ...

(1948) - London, England *Dr. Andre Repond (1949-1950) *Prof. W. Line (1950-1951) - Toronto, Canada *Prof. Alfonso Millan (1951-1952) - Mexico, DF *Dr. M.K. el Kholy (1952-1953) - Cairo, Egypt *Prof. H.C. Rumke (1953-1954) - Utrecht, Netherlands * Dr.

Frank Fremont-Smith Frank Fremont-Smith (3 March 1895– 27 February 1974) was an American administrator, executive with the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, president of British General Rees's World Federation of Mental Health, known together with Lawrence K. Frank as ...

(1954-1955) - New York, USA *Prof. Nilo Maki (1955-1956) - Helsinki, Finland *Dr. Eduardo Enrique Krapf (1956-1957) - Buenos Aires, Argentina * Dr.

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...

(1957-1958) - New York, USA * Dr.

(1957-1958) - Victoria, Canada *Prof. Hans Hoff (1959-1960) - Vienna, Austria *Prof. Paul Sivadon (1960-1961) - Paris, France *Prof. A.C. Pacheco de Silva (1961-1962) - Sao Paolo, Brazil *Dr. George S Stevenson (1961-1962) - New York, USA *Dr. Phon Sangsingkeo (1962-1963) - Bangkok, Thailand *Prof. G.P. Alivisatos (1963-1964) - Athens, Greece *Dr. Alan Stoller (1964-1965) - Victoria, Australia *Sir Samual Manuwa (1965-1966) - Lagos, Nigeria *Dr. Otto Klineberg (1966-1967) - Canada *Prof.

Morris Carstairs George Morrison Carstairs, (18 June 1916 – 17 April 1991) was a British psychiatrist, anthropologist, and academic. He was Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Edinburgh from 1961 to 1973, President of the World Mental ...

(1968-1972) - Edinburgh, Scotland * Prof. Michael Beaubrun (1972-1974) - Kingston, Jamaica * Prof.

Tsung-yi Lin Lin Tsung-yi (Taiwanese: Lîm Chong-gī, ; 19 September 1920 – 20 July 2010) was an academic and educator in psychiatry. Lin was born in 1920 in Tainan Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Tainan, Taiwan) to Lin Mosei and Chai-Hwang Wang. L ...

(1975-1979) - Vancouver, Canada * Mr. Gowan Guest (1979-1981) - Esq, Vancouver, Canada * Prof.

Eugene Brody Eugene Bloor Brody (1921–2010) was an American psychiatrist. Brody was chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Dean for Social and Behavioral Studies at the University of Maryland. Brody was ...

(1981-1983) - Baltimore, USA *Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim (1983-1985) - Manila, Philippines *Mrs. Edith Morgan (1985-1987) - London, England *Dr. Gamal M. Abou El Azayem (1987-1989) - Cairo, Egypt *Dr. Stanislas Flache (1989-1991) - Geneva, Switzerland *Dr. Max W. Abbott (1991-1993) - Auckland, New Zealand *Dr. Federico Puente-Silva (1993-1995) - Mexico DF, Mexico *Mrs. Beverly B. Long, Georgia (1995-1997) - USA *Prof. Marten deVries (1997-1999) - Maastricht, Netherlands *Dr. Ahmed Abou El Azayem (1999-2001) - Cairo, Egypt *Mrs. Pirkko Lahti (2001-2003) - Helsinki, Finland *Dr. Patt Franciosi (2003-2005) - Wisconsin, USA *Mrs. Shona Sturgeon (2005-2007) - Cape Town, South Africa *Prof. John R.M. Copeland (2007-2009) - London, England *Mr. Anthony Fowke (2009-2011) - Perth, Australia *Mrs. Deborah Wan (2011-2013) - Hong Kong, SAR *Prof. George Christodoulou (2013-2015) - Greece *Dr. Gabriel Ivbijaro (2015-2017) - United Kingdom *Dr. Alberto Trimboli (2017-2019) - Argentina *Ingrid Daniels (2019 to 2021) - South Africa *Nasser Loza (2021 to 2023) - Egypt

Notable members

Helmuth Ehrhardt Helmuth Ehrhardt was a German psychiatrist. Life Ehrhardt was a student of Werner Villinger. In a biography on Villinger, which Ehrhardt authored, he commended Villinger and Max de Crinis. Ehrhardt downplayed the seriousness of the crimes th ...

– Executive board member *

Werner Villinger Werner Villinger (9 October 1887 in Besigheim – 8 August 1961 near Innsbruck) was a Nazi German psychiatrist, neurologist, eugenicist and the leading physician at the Bethel Institution ("Anstalt Bethel"). Villinger's specialities included ju ...

– German psychiatrist, educating the public *

– Honorary president *

– President, 1981 to 1983; Secretary General from 1983 to 1999.

Conferences and Congresses

World Mental Health Day

References

External links

World Federation for Mental Health
– Official website *
World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders
– 'Information for families caring for people with mental illness'
– World Health Organization, Mental Health, Home Page
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1948 Psychology organizations International medical and health organizations Mental health organizations in the United States International organizations based in the United States