Minister of Health Walter Roban opened Mental Health Awareness Week stressing the importance of early treatment of mental disorders.

Speaking at the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI), the Minister said: "Over 450 million individuals around the world are living with some form of mental illness that could benefit from early diagnosis.

"However, fewer than one half of those people actually benefit from early diagnosis and treatment, or receive any treatment at all."

Mr. Roban promised that MWI will be given the same attention as King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) as the Government strives to improve the Island's hospital system.

"As part of the overall hospital redevelopment, MWI will be getting just as much attention here as at KEMH," said the Minister.

"As part of our overall strategy to improve the hospitals, we are keeping wellness in mind, and that means both physical and mental wellness. There will be a lot of changes as time goes on."

As part of international Mental Health Awareness Week, which started on Monday, MWI will be hosting several events, including a screening of the film 'The Soloist' on Friday, a soccer tournament at Bermuda College in honour of the late Minister of Health Nelson Bascome, and public and professional seminars with visiting psychiatrist Dr. George Everly.

'The Soloist' is an up-lifting real-life story of an LA Times reporter who started writing a series of stories on a homeless man, who suffers from mental illness, but who is a brilliant musician.

At the opening, Dr. Everly said that mental health and physical health need to be treated together. "We must walk away from the distinction of mind and body. It's time they met," he said.

Dr. Everly, who was key in developing Kuwait's mental health system, said that the public's awareness of mental health issues is key to preventing issues from arising.

"We can bounce back from genetics, from whatever life throws at us. It's about resilience, about what we do every day.

"One of the things I've learnt is that when you treat people like victims, then they behave like victims. If you treat people like patients, they behave like patients. When you treat people like human beings, they tend to do better."

MWI's Chief of Psychiatry Dr. Michael Radford also took to the podium, telling the audience that the community needs to get past the stigma of "madness."

"We all have been touched by mental illness. We have the seeds of madness in all of us. Mental health is about what goes on in the walls of our hearts and our minds," he said. "Mental health is too important to be confined to a mental hospital."

CEO of MWI, David Hill, described Mental Health Awareness week as a launching pad for programmes at the institute.

"It feels like this isn't going to be a week, it's going to be a year" he said. "You can't just hope. You have to go out and do things."