Centre for Destigmatisation and Prevention of Mental Disorders established

The Centre for Destigmatisation and Prevention of Mental Disorders has been opened at the University of Rijeka Faculty of Medicine, the newly-established Centre announced in a press release on Saturday.

The head of the Centre, Igor Salopek, said that the Centre was opened as a follow-up to the anti-stigma campaign “Stand by Me”, which was designed and launched last year by Rijeka University students.

The Centre is conceived as a platform for various activities and initiatives aimed at promoting mental health and human rights, with special emphasis on people experiencing mental disorders.

Salopek said that mental illnesses, and in particular depression, were on the rise and that this fact was an additional strong reason to establish the Centre and fight stigmatisation.

According to estimates of the World Health Organisation, nearly a quarter of the global population have experience of a mental disorder and because of that are strongly stigmatised and cannot exercise their fundamental rights, receive a good education or find an appropriate job.