Housing and its impact on mental wellbeing will be the focus of this year's edition of Mental Health Week, which will feature more than 150 activities across Wallonia and Brussels from 5 to 11 October.
The initiative is being coordinated in southern Belgium by the Mental Health Reference Centre, CRéSaM, and in Brussels by the Brussels League for Mental Health, LBSM, as part of World Mental Health Day on 10 October.
It will bring together care and support professionals, local authorities, associations and members of the public under the banner “#Everyone concerned”.
“Mental health does not concern only people living with a mental disorder,” the organisers said. “We all have mental health, and it is shaped by many different factors: individual and relational, but also political and environmental.”
The organisers stressed that mental health is closely linked to stable material and social living conditions.
According to data from the Federal Public Service for Social Integration, at least 48,000 people in Belgium, both adults and children, are currently homeless, living in poor housing or facing eviction.
Poor housing, ranging from unsafe conditions to residential instability, can fuel anxiety and depression, while having a secure home is a key factor in recovery, according to a study cited by CRéSaM.
The awareness campaign will include conferences, film discussions, creative workshops, walks and open days organised by a wide range of groups, including psychiatric hospitals, mental health services, public social welfare centres, mutual insurance bodies and universities.
Local events will also take place throughout the week in Brussels, Namur, Liège, Leuze and Rixensart, as well as online.
One of the main events will be a study day in Louvain-la-Neuve on 6 October, focusing on links between the mental health and housing sectors.
More than 1,500 people attended the previous edition.
