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MVI |
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Overwhelming demographic growth, massive migrations and an explosive increase of information have contributed to large scale social and cultural change at every level of society. In turn, this result in an escalating growth of mental health problems worldwide, in individuals as well as groups, bringing stress and disharmony, even violence. Individuals across the social spectrum struggling to make sense of traumatic events and rapid social change are worn down by instability and lack of security in their lives. The World Health Organization considers that, if current trends continue, “depression by the year 2020 will become the greatest source of human misery the world has ever seen”. One in four will suffer from mental health problems. To counteract an “age of melancholy and anxiety” people increasingly seek a combination of old values [reliability, quality, beauty, familiarity] and measurable rewards [functionality, convenience, versatility, curiosity and excitement] to improve their lives. Media can help people to interact and restore security, thereby reducing anxiety and providing support and know-how for sound mental health and social harmony. Media formats that link information from the “past” to the present situation contribute to a sense of continuity and stability. This thesis motivated dr. Marten de Vries, professor in social psychiatry of the University of Maastricht and then President of the World Federation for Mental Health, to look for ways to extend existing mental health approaches and reach more people by making use of the media and the performing arts. He contacted drs. Jaap Swart, who had developed Radio Nederland Training Centre (RNTC) to become an International Centre for expertise in media facilitated communication for development and education. Both have extensive international networks and had been responsible for the creation and implementation of many projects in the Western and non-Western world. Together they founded Mind Venture International, MVI, as a not-for-profit vehicle for their ideas welcoming other former colleagues as partners. Given the ample evidence of the meaningful influence of media in the lives of people, MVI proposes the use of multiple forms of media and performing arts (mainly theatre, music and story/telling), traditional and new technologies, to facilitate communication in the area of social stress and mental health. |
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