Mental health problems account for approximately 20% of the total burden of illness in Europe (WHO, 2004a). One in four people experience a significant episode of mental illness during their lifetime. Four of the six major causes of disability are due to mental health problems such as depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorders and alcohol/substance-use disorders; people with mental health problems tend to also get physical pathologies; and, moreover mental health problems affect interpersonal relationships more than other kinds of health problems do. There is a strong relationship between poverty, social deprivation and mental health problems (Kessler & Frank, 1997). It has been demonstrated that individuals who live in areas with a high rate of unemployment are at an increased risk of developing mental health problems. The risk of phenomena such as stigmatization and discrimination is always current, especially in social areas where there is a lack of information and promotion of mental health. That can create social isolation and difficulty in finding a job and in living independently, so that there is also a greater risk of becoming homeless or of coming into contact with the criminal-justice system (WHO, 2005)
Moreover: suicide is one of the top ten major causes of premature death in Europe, and after traffic accidents it is the principal cause of mortality among 15-35-year-old males in the region (WHO, 2004d).
Another important issue is related to the economic costs of mental illness, estimated to be approximately 3-4% of GNP. The majority of these costs occur outside the health sector, as they are due to lost employment through absenteeism, poor performance and premature retirement (Gabriel & Liimatainen, 2000; Scott et al. 2001).
In spite of the fact that this information is significant in terms of impact on quality of life and social functioning, mental health promotion continues to be a low priority in most countries (WHO, 2005); both the development of national policies and the level of funding for mental health are limited; in most European countries the model of care is the traditional medical model, where emphasis is placed on treating clinical aspects with much less attention paid to existential and social consequences of symptoms. So, the development of community-care services have been patchy in availability and quality (WHO, 2005). Within large psychiatric hospitals there are continued occurrences of fundamental abuses of human rights. These have been most visible within the institutions of Central and Eastern Europe, but are still broadly present in Western Europe. In reality, in the countries where the development of modern community-based services has been most prominent, there are still situations in which asylum care, characterized by negligence and violations of human rights, also exist.