Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-05-Speech-2-345"
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"en.20060905.27.2-345"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, firstly I wish to express my sincere congratulations to the rapporteur for his excellent work. Mr Bowis has thoroughly and successfully addressed all the important issues concerning a strategy for mental health in the EU and my group fully endorses his report.
As regards the amendments tabled, the ALDE Group will support the two PSE Amendments 11 and 12, but with the following proposed oral amendment to each. In both amendments, the words ‘some of’ should be inserted after the word ‘in’ so that the text reads: ‘in some of the new Member States’. This is necessary because what is referred to in the amendments does not apply to all new Member States and it would be inappropriate and erroneous not to make this clear. I am sure this small alteration will be agreed by all concerned.
On the main substance of the report, I only wish to re-emphasise a couple of points. Firstly, the fact that mental ill health is extremely common. It is estimated that approximately 100 million EU citizens will be affected by it during their lifetime. It does not appear to be so common in everyday life, because most people choose to hide it away. The time has now come to bring the issue of mental illness out of the closet of denial and shame and deal with it openly, rationally and effectively.
Secondly, there is the fact that mental illness is unfortunately subject to stigmatisation in our societies. In my view, this stems from our limited comprehension of the function of one of our most important vital organs, the brain. The brain, like other vital organs such as the heart and the lungs, is susceptible to disease, which results in malfunction. A malfunctioning heart will give rise to cardiac disease. In the same way a malfunctioning brain will give rise to mental disease. The main difference in my view is that we may not yet be able to identify the exact anatomical and/or histological and/or biochemical anomaly giving rise to the particular brain malfunction. I am sure we will be able to do this in the future, as our scientific knowledge of neurology and neuroscience progresses. So mental illness should be nothing to be ashamed of. The mentally-ill patient is no different to a cardiac patient or any other patient.
In conclusion, I very much wish and hope that this report will mark the end of the dark ages approach to mental disorders and the beginning of a new era of understanding in dealing with both the treatment and prevention of mental ill health."@en1
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