World Federation for Mental Health, Impressions of the Third Annual Meeting
These informal notes on the Third Annual Meeting of the World Federation for Mental Health are intended in no way to summarize the Proceedings as they will in due course appear in the Annual Report; nor is it intended to cream ?ff the outline reports of the study groups, for these, too, will be available for review presently. All that is intended is to give some impressions of ?ne delegate who invested her holiday time and money in ” Paris 1950
The Cite Universitaire in which the delegates lived, is an estate with a score of student hostels each called after a country, but normally occupied by an international group of students. Each ” Maison ” is run differently?hence much of the cheerful banter as to whether one had a dance hall but no toilet-paper?double doors but communal hot showers only twice a Week?a lift but only paper curtains, or English Papers on sale but many cats ! Rooms were very cheap and food could be had at the various canteens or nearby cafes, at almost any price one wished to pay. Then there were many ” elevenses ” at all hours of the day and night, indoors or out. Conscientious delegates saw all too httle of Paris itself (at least between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.), but wise ones snatched a day at either end for ” holidaying abroad “.
Were we international ? By our passports, Vcs; in our discussion, sometimes. There were 25 countries, including Germany and Japan, represented by approximately 200 delegates from nearly 50 of the 62 member-organizations of the Federation. These organizations, it will be remembered, while nearly all national geographically, are either general mental health organizations, professional bodies, or societies for specialized work in or near the mental health field.
In discussion we demonstrated how hard it is to “be foreigners ” and to strive to be world citizens. I wonder how often, in Paris, delegates said ” in this country or ” here before realizing they meant the U.S. or the U.K. I wonder how often enthusiastic speakers laid down the law about married women, or preschool ages, or industrial conditions, or religious teaching, or graduates, without remembering the great differences implied by these words from continent to continent, and race to race. And there was magnificent training in the hunt for basic meanings in various languages, for words like mental health, education, normality, and social responsibilities. How elusive, too, the subtleties of humour and gentle irony, often expressed only in tone of voice or even angle of the head … and quite untranslatable ! Eleven study groups occupied most of the time of the Conference, usually eight or a dozen men and women in each from a variety of countries and professions. They studied aspects of Mental Health in Education (six groups), Mental Health in Industry (two), Leadership and Authority in Local Communities (two), and The Mental Health of Transplanted and Homeless persons (one). Participation itself seemed in most groups to be at least as significant as any decisions made, or recommendations formulated. How fervently one hopes that many members will continue group discussions at a high level, if not at the same pressure, in their own communities. Such practice alone can ensure steady improvement for the regular attenders of Annual Meetings.
Inspiring and moving addresses were given by visitors from UNESCO, WHO and IRO, and members of the Conference attending from Germany and Japan brought special greetings. Dr J. R. Rees (Great Britain), Director of the W.F.M.H., presenting his Annual Report, detailed a programme of work accomplished and in hand, both at world consultative level, and by individuals in the Secretariat, Executive Board and Inter-Professional Advisory Committee, that was plainly impressive in a two-year-old organization so badly in need of funds, and so hampered by present barriers to the ready exchange of currency for subscriptions and donations.
Dr Alfonso Millan (Mexico) warmly welcomed the decision of the delegates to hold the next Annual Meeting and World Congress in Mental Health in Mexico City in December, 1951, and two aspects of that Congress are already worth noting. The first is that teachers in Mexico will be freed from school duties to attend meetings open to them, with financial help from the Mexican Government. The second is that an ambitious and imaginative scheme is being worked out, by which professional experts from many parts of the world, chiefly members of the Executive Board and Advisory Committee, may ” work ” their way to and from Mexico, through intensive ” Flying Seminars ” on Mental Health, under various endowments or ad hoc funds in the Americas. As all such earnings will be pooled in the Federation funds, the appeal to all countries for further financial help would seem to be morally strengthened.
Two experiments in the usefulness of the W.F.M.H. are now beginning. First, individuals may become Associates of the Federation, paying one guinea (or equivalent) yearly, and receiving the Annual Report, and such other literature as may be decided; and second, appropriate organizations which have been unable to join because of the high fee (four hundred Swiss francs yearly) may now offer a reduced fee. This should be of special value to pioneer mental health organizations in some countries, and to small but highly specialized professional bodies in others.
Characteristically stimulating addresses were given to full sessions by Dr Repond (Switzerland) and Dr Rumke (Netherlands), but the heartiest and most prolonged applause was given to Professor Line (Canada) for his inaugural address as President. He drove our attention back to the need for individual participation in mental health work, and individual responsibility for our own mental health, and that of our neighbours. It was a great challenge to member-organizations, too. Finally, the whole Annual Meeting and Conference, and those meetings of the Executive which preceded it, were the object of skilled observation and research, under an experiment largely financed by UNESCO and directed by Dr Alvin Zander (United States). Previous researches of this kind have been on governmental world assemblies; this one was on a non-governmental international group, and many individuals as well as organizations will await the report with interest.
I.M.L. To-day education is closely bound up with the whole problem of humanity, and this post-war period marks a turning point in its history… . Experts are unanimously agreed that the psychological problems caused by this world cataclysm, are not, strictly speaking, war problems, but have brought to light on a grand scale and with spectacular effect the social situations to which many abnormalities in children are attributable. . : . Under the pressure of circumstances, a tremendous effort to understand children and give them the best possible education has been made throughout the world.
This new stage … will not be concerned only with rehabilitation; it will be designed to assist human progress as a whole by making it possible for young people, even if handicapped, to overcome their deficiencies and play a constructive part in the future of the world.
UNESCO REPORT ON WAR-HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.