The Association Global Mental Health started in 2015, is charitable and not profit-oriented.

Since 2015 Prof. Dr. Sabine Bährer-Kohler is the president of the organization.

The objectives of the Association Global Mental Health include promoting mental health, also in the global context, by imparting knowledge about essentials, the risk factors of mental health and the options of preventing mental illness as well as by building networks.

(Bährer-Kohler 2015)

Since 2015 the association became a member of the World Federation for Mental Health and organized for example many events/lectures on

• Mental Health/Global Mental Health in Iran
• Arts and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• Psychodrama/Literature and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• Children and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• Music and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• Playing cards and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• TCM and Mental Health/Global Mental Health
• Aircraft/pilots and Mental Health/Global Mental Health

The topic of the annual event in 2020 was: Herbs and Mental Health/Global Mental Health.

Plant-based products are becoming progressively attention and interest. There are for example several natural remedies for depression and anxiety such as chamomile, Californian Poppy,  hawthorn, lemon balm, passion flower, oats, wild lettuce wood betony, brahmi, catnip, hops, boldo, vervain, Siberian ginseng, rosemary, peppermint, mullein, Jamaican dog wood, cramp bark, Ginkgo biloba, St Johns wort, lavender oil, scull cap, lime flower (Linden Blossom), mother wort, damiana, gotu kola, valerian etc. published by Ozsavci et al. 2019.

Helpful for the organizers was additionally the WHO global report 2019 about traditional and complementary medicine, which covered the first time facets of traditional medicine-products, practices and practitioners. The multifaceted report underlined additionally the different effects of complementary medicine.

The association was able to organize a guided tour in the herb garden of the Swiss company Ricola in Nenzlingen Switzerland. It was a very impressive event with invited guests, members and chairpersons of the association. Our grateful thanks go to the company Ricola in Switzerland for their great hospitality and the excellent, outstanding presentation.

Sabine Bährer-Kohler, President of the Association Global Mental Health, Switzerland 

References

Ozsavci, D. Bingol, O. et al. (2019). Level of clinical evidence of herbal complementary therapies in psychiatric disorders, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 29:3, 239-243, DOI: 10.1080/24750573.2019.1625587.

WHO (2019). WHO global report in 2019 about traditional and complementary medicine. https://www.who.int/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine#tab=tab_1. (Accessed 29.8.20).