Mental health and primary care

Abstract

"The World Health Organization (WHO) has dedicated World Health Day on April 7, 2001, to mental health. Two themes that are important aspects of mental health and specific to mental illness form the basis of the WHO mental health campaign: “Stop exclusion — Dare to care.” The first element of the WHO slogan emphasizes that “there is no justification in ethics, science, or society to exclude persons with a mental illness or a brain disorder from our communities.”1 The second reminds us that mental illness can happen to anyone. It also invites us not to “fear those experiencing a mental illness” and to challenge the myths and misconceptions about these conditions."