Mental Health in Europe \u2014 A Call for Care<\/a>,\u201d states that Europe is facing a growing mental health crisis with increases in depression and anxiety being causes by various factors, such as loneliness, trauma, suicide, job insecurity, aging, digitalization, and forced migration.<\/p>\nThe study notes that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the crisis while it simultaneously exposed the weaknesses of the European mental health care system.<\/p>\n
The document, which advocates for a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d vision of mental health that also encompasses social, relational, and spiritual dimensions, was prepared by the COMECE ethics committee.<\/p>\n
Loneliness: One of the greatest risks to mental health<\/p>\n
Friederike Ladenburger is a jurist, adviser on ethics, research, and health, and secretary of the commission. In an interview with ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, she emphasized the need to address mental health from a \u201cmultidimensional\u201d perspective that takes into account not only biological and psychological needs but also \u201cspiritual support.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also noted that the document stems from a concern regarding \u201ccurrent, urgent, and pressing\u201d issues such as loneliness, one of the greatest risks to mental health today, which \u201chas evolved into one of the major crises of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ladenburger clarified that loneliness is defined as \u201cthe absence of social contact and the perceived discrepancy between a person\u2019s desires and their actual social network,\u201d emphasizing that the problem is not solely quantitative. \u201cIt is not just about the size of your network, but also the quality of your network,\u201d she stated, underscoring the importance of having \u201cmeaningful, authentic, and lasting human connections.\u201d<\/p>\n
The document states that mental well-being depends not only on clinical treatments but also on strong human relationships, social integration, a sense of belonging, and respect for the dignity of every individual.<\/p>\n
She noted that the report rests on three fundamental pillars drawn from Christian anthropology: that \u201cthe human person is created in the image of God,\u201d that this dignity encompasses \u201cboth body and soul,\u201d and that human beings possess an essential relational and spiritual dimension. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most important points of our report is the communal aspect of the human person,\u201d she said, indicating that the Church can help address social isolation with community events.<\/p>\n
Strengthening families<\/p>\n
The COMECE study also emphasizes the need for the European Union to promote policies that strengthen families as a fundamental place where care takes place.<\/p>\n
The report identifies the family as \u201cthe basic cell of society\u201d and, in this vein, warned that Europe is undergoing \u201can urgent and dramatic demographic change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consequently, Ladenburger called for greater financial support for young families: \u201cThey need financial support, financial relief, and the opportunity to start a family\u201d as well as \u201cjobs and decent housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Technology must not replace human contact<\/p>\n
Ladenburger expressed concern regarding the impact of artificial intelligence, particularly among young people, underscoring the need for European regulation to protect individuals from technological abuse, digital addiction, and online harassment.<\/p>\n
She warned that the use of digital tools must be \u201csupplementary, not substitutive,\u201d acknowledging that digital technologies can improve access to psychological care but emphasizing that technology should complement, rather than replace, human contact.<\/p>\n
She said that \u201cthe priority is the human being,\u201d whose core capacity remains \u201cto express empathy and feel with others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spiritual accompaniment<\/p>\n
In addition, COMECE called for European policies that include spiritual accompaniment in hospitals and in other vulnerable settings, including reproductive health, palliative and end-of-life care, and migration.<\/p>\n
Regarding surrogacy, she explained that the report outlines the psychological risks for both the pregnant mother and the child. Likewise, concerning palliative care, it advocates for comprehensive care that is not limited to the clinical aspect. \u201cEvery human being must be treated with dignity, especially those who are suffering,\u201d Ladenburger pointed out.<\/p>\n
Emphasizing the importance of hospital chaplaincies and of every individual\u2019s right to practice his or her religion, especially in situations of suffering or displacement, the bishops\u2019 commission noted that effective support would not only be “medical or clinical … it also entails spiritual support.\u201d <\/p>\n
This story was first published<\/a> by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) has published a study analyzing the mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1128,4,11464],"class_list":{"0":"post-41293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"tag-catholic-news","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-mental-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}