Message from the WFMH

Dear colleagues, friends, and members of the global mental health community,

On the oc​casion of World Mental Health Day 2026, we extend our warmest greetings, on behalf of the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), to people, organizations, professionals, advocates, families, and communities worldwide who are working to advance mental health and well-being.

This year’s theme, “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change,” reminds us of a fundamental principle: meaningful progress in mental health can be achieved only through close collaboration with people with lived experiences.

For too long, people living with mental health conditions have faced stigma, discrimination, social exclusion, and barriers to receiving appropriate care. Decisions regarding services, policies, and systems have often been made without sufficient participation from those most directly affected. In this context, we are reminded of the pioneering work of Professor Sir Michael Marmot and the WHO World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, held in Rio de Janeiro in 2011, which reinforced the global commitment to address the social conditions that shape health and health inequities. For mental health, this means listening to how frequently poverty, inequality, education, employment, housing, conflict, and other social factors affect people’s lives and their opportunities for recovery. We must move beyond speaking for people and create genuine opportunities to listen, learn, and work with them.

However, listening is only the beginning. Real voices must lead to real changes.​

This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is closely connected to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) work on deinstitutionalization and transforming mental health services. Supporting people to live in the community with services that promote recovery, dignity, autonomy, and inclusion can bring meaningful change to the lives of people with lived experience. Such transformation also requires attention to the social conditions in which people live, learn, work, and build relationships so that communities themselves support mental health and recovery. To strengthen awareness and encourage dialogue, the WFMH is organizing a webinar with the WHO and United for Global Mental Health (UGMH) on Friday, October 9. We hope that many people will join us, share their perspectives, and help translate what we learn into action.

The WFMH works closely with the WHO, UGMH, and many other partners. No individual or organization can improve mental health independently. This requires collaboration across countries, professions, sectors, and communities. We hope that more people and organizations will join the WFMH and contribute to this global movement with the WHO and other partners. World Mental Health Day is an important opportunity to reaffirm the value of this collaboration.

We invite WFMH members, partners, governments, organizations, professionals, and communities worldwide to organize activities for World Mental Health Day 2026 and, above all, to provide genuine platforms for people with lived experience to be heard. We also encourage these activities to address the social factors that influence mental health and promote inclusion, opportunity, and participation in community life. Please share information and reports about these activities with the WFMH so that we can amplify voices and learn from around the world.

Together, we can ensure that lived experiences shape better policies, services, and more inclusive communities.Let us turn real voices into real changes.

​World Federation for Mental Health