Mary @ National Campaign against Anxiety conference

File photo Psykiatrifonden

On Thursday November 8 Crown Princess Mary attended the opening of a series of three conferences which begins a National Campaign against Anxiety in Denmark. Mary is the patron of the Danish Mental Health Fund and the opening of the campaign was held at the Panum Institute in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. The Danish Mental Health Fund is a private humanitarian fund (it does have some government funding of around 45%) with the aim to increase knowledge and awareness of mental illness, its causes, plus prevention and treatment. The Mental Health Fund carries out its goals through conferences, building awareness among school children, consulting with businesses and producing information materials and books, including online. It also runs a helpline.

Participants in the national campaign launch included Health Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leading consultant Professor Raben Rosenberg, psychologist Michelle Ulrichsen, actor Farshad Kholghi, writer and priest Asger Baunsbak Jensen, Royal Theatre actor Henning Jensen (as MC) and consultant and chairman of PsykiatriFonden, Jes Gerlach.

With the promotion of the Campaign against Anxiety the focus is on the consequences of anxiety through both professional and personal presentations. There was an overview about the Campaign against Anxiety (background, goals and organisation) and also on the latest knowledge in the area (diagnoses, treatment, prevention). The professional presentations have been supplemented with actor Farshad Kholghi's personal account about anxiety and writer and priest Asger Baunsbak Jensen's experiences with depression and anxiety.

There will be further conferences in November and a continuing program in the campaign into 2008, during February and March.

Psykiatrifonden article in English (pdf) about the structure, activities and work of the Danish Mental Health Fund.
Campaign Against Anxiety website (in Danish)
Photos from Psykaitrifonden marking World Mental Health Day on October 10 - our post (pics are pdf)

The day before, on November 7, Crown Princess Mary was at an off-calendar seminar which she attended with colleagues of the Mary Foundation about vulnerable children and youth in Greenland. We can suppose from this that a project or projects for kids in Greenland will be a recipient of funds from the Mary Foundation in the future. Well conceived and targeted projects for complex social problems among indigenous people tend to be more beneficial long term than simple donations of money. Children in Greenland have very high rates of preventable diseases (such as chronic ear infections), inability to thrive because of social conditions and high rates of suicide, not unlike other indigenous peoples of the world. The mission of the Mary Foundation is to fund targeted and purposeful projects to improve the lives of children, among others, who experience problems, isolation or exclusion through circumstances beyond their control.
Mary Foundation
Crown Princess Mary establishes the Mary Foundation

Also, Denmark is fully occupied in the political sphere at present, with a general election to be held this coming Tuesday.
If you would like to read about the election, here are some links to stories in English from Denmark.dk (from oldest to most recent):
Election ’07: Social Democrats split over EU referendum
Election '07: Party clours blurring in dead heat campaign
Election '07: PM says no change in no new tax policy
Election '07: Key parties will press for new social welfare changes
Election '07: Leading candidates (dis)agree
Election '07: The battle for the undecideds
Election '07: Election shuffle continues
Election '07: Poll: voters support changes in asylum regulations
Election '07: Ally to government: don't forget about us
Election '07: Youthful pragmatism

The current conservative prime minister is tipped to win. Co-incidentally Australia is also in the middle of an election, where the conservative incumbent is tipped to lose according to polls.

Mary @ World Mental Health Day

Unfortunately the Danish media has given little attention to World Mental Health Day last Wednesday. Crown Princess Mary did however, by helping to mark World Mental Health Day in the Falconer Center, Frederiksberg, as the patron of the Danish Mental Health Fund. World Mental Health Day (October 10) is a global mental health education, awareness and advocacy project of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. The theme for the campaign this year: Mental Health in a Changing World: The Impact of Culture and Diversity.

Danish Mental Health Fund
access the 2007 campaign
Carter Center Mental Health Program Observes World Mental Health Day - Crown Princess Mary is a member of the International Committee of Women Leaders for Mental Health (members)

The program (pdf in Danish)
World Mental Health Day about depression research (in Danish)
Berlingske Tidende 'Arrangementer om mental sundhed og sygdom'

Søren Steffen's gallery - where you will also see photos of a woman who seemed to have some mental health issues at the event...

Click on the Danish Mental Health Fund label below to see earlier events.

Mary marks World Mental Health Day

Today Crown Princess Mary has helped mark World Mental Health Day. The theme this year is: 2006 Building Awareness - Reducing Risk: Mental Illness & Suicide. In Denmark there are various events but Mary will be present at the Frederiksberg Town Hall as patron of the Danish Mental Health Fund.



from Madeleine Glindorf's gallery:

Mary accepts donation for Danish Mental Health Fund

Today Crown Princess Mary has accepted a donation from the LEGO Company on behalf of her patronage the Danish Mental Health Fund. The donation is to help with ongoing funding of already running Danish Mental Health Fund youth projects. The event was at LEGOLAND Billund (LEGO headquarters).



tvsyd.dk video clip (2:04)



NEW! Visit Gert Blume's site for more photos
Also new: Mary charmed by dragon and fairies at Danish theme park Hello! magazine

Mary opens new psychiatric hospital

Today Crown Princess Mary, as patron for the Danish Mental Health Fund and for The Danish Association for Mental Health, opened a new psychiatric hospital facility in the town of Helsingør. Mary spent time after the formalities talking to residents.



related links:
Danish Mental Health Fund
Danish Association for Mental Health
Helsingor.dk

Mary @ psychiatry conference

Denmark's B.T. has reported on yesterday's jubilee conference for the Danish Mental Health Fund which was attended by Mary as their patron.

The day-long conference addressed the question 'The Future of Psychiatry' to mark the organisation's 10th anniversay. B.T. reported that Crown Princess Mary awarded the Foundation's annual prize to former Danish prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. Mary left the proceedings several times during the day to breastfeed and be with Prince Christian who was in a room nearby.



* Little Prince Christian joined his mother at work. Mary left the conference a couple of times during the day to breastfeed. While Mary was at the conference, the nanny Mette Hansen took prince Christian for a walk in the pram.

Mary @ Danish Mental Health Fund annivarsary

Today, Crown Princess Mary attended an all day event for one of her
patronages (she has 18). It is a jubilee to mark the Danish Mental Health Fund's 10th anniversary.



Click here to watch the video.

Crown Princess Mary presented a prize to former Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen:




Also, last Wednesday (March 1) Mary attended a non-publicised meeting of the Danish Heart Association, so no photos.