A cross-linguistic analysis of mental health discourse in European parliamentary debates: a corpus-based study using ParlaMint

What is it about?

This study examines how mental health is discussed in European parliaments by analyzing debates in 24 languages. We found that Northern and Western European parliaments mention mental health more frequently than Eastern and Southern European ones. Discussions about mental health have increased significantly over the past two decades, especially after 2015 and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Female politicians tend to discuss mental health more often relative to their parliamentary representation. These findings help us understand how political attention to mental health varies across Europe and has evolved over time, with implications for advocacy and policy development.

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