1 in 4 people can suffer from mental illness at any time.

The web page of "1 in 4" is part of a long term project of the Health Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia¹ titled "Awareness of mental disorders and people suffering from them". This project started in 2006 and carries out many actions that are an attempt to make mental illness familiar to a society that suffers them but at the same time, rejects them without stopping to think why and attempt to fight against a false and mistaken image of mental disorders.

The project is co-ordinated through the MENTAL HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS GROUP, formed by professionas in the Mental Health Programme and the services aiding mental health issues within the Andalusian Health Services belonging to the Andalusian Public Foundation for Social Integration of People Suffering Mental Disorders, the Platform of Users of Mental Health of Andalusia and the Andalusian Federation of Relatives of People With Mental Disorders.

1 de cada 4 belongs to a global strategy that has as its goals:

• Improve health care and social care with a recovery model as goal and paying special attention in prevention of disruptive behaviour.
• Offer objective information through the educational system, communications media and leisure industry.
• Enable spaces for interaction and social contact.
• Reinforce protest actions by the movement of people affected and eliminate structural discrimination factors.
• Collaborate with key professionals: educational system, media communications, social services, health system and security forces.

Among actions carried out during the development of the awareness project, we mention:

• Communication campaign of "1 de cada 4"
• Conferences on mental health and communications media events
• Work-shops for awareness arousal for journalists
• Publishing opinion articles in the press
• Creation of forums on stigma and participation in professional encounters
• Research project: Study on stigma and mental health among health professionals.
• Training courses on Recovery and Stigma for professionals in mental health
• Awareness creation for mental health professionals on stigma generated within the services themselves (brochures that encourage reflection)
• Awareness creation of the citizens in waiting halls in health centres (large sized panels that encourage reflection)
• Awareness creation in school rooms with a School Project (sessions for reconsidering mental disorders and stigma)
• Creation of videos for spreading information about specific disorders.

¹ The Spanish State is de-centralised and is formed by 17 Self Governing Autonomous Communities. The Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) is the regional government of the Andalusian Autonomous Community and in Health matters has full competencies. Andalusia has a population of around 8 million inhabitants.