Delano’s Top of the Week: mental health in Luxembourg

Ara City Radio’s Tom Clarke and Delano’s Tracy Heindrichs sat down on Monday morning to look at the week ahead. On top of the announcement of the state budget for 2023 and a state of the nation week, 10 October marks the beginning of National Mental Health Week.

National Mental Health Week takes place every two years in Luxembourg. From 10 to 16 October, the topic will be at the heart of many conferences, talks, workshops and performances targeted at children, teens and adults. The list of events can be found .

Tracy and Tom also talked about the obstacles people in need of mental health support can stumble upon. Indeed, despite this special week dedicated to mental health awareness, projects to reimburse the cost of psychologist and psychotherapist treatments have been stalling--due to a disagreement between the CNS and the psychotherapist federation Fapsylux on pricing and reimbursement rates--since 2017. The national mental health strategy--which was part of the 2018 coalition agreement--has also yet to be presented.

Tracy listed a few options for those who cannot afford private therapy. There is for instance the Ligue Luxembourgeoise d’Hygiène Mentale which offers free Helpline SOS Détresse on 5 October also launched a service for English speakers, where persons with acute or longterm issues can talk anonymously on the phone to a volunteer. This service runs from 11am to 11pm and can be reached by dialling 45 45 45.