Advocacy Links

Advocacy Groups

This list of organisations is by no means exhaustive but we hope it offers a good starting point.  ISAD will continue to add links and would be pleased to receive suggestions.

The links resources are one way in which ISAD is helping to build networks between existing and new advocacy partners.

ISAD is aiming to build a resource for advocacy partners with an international scope.

ISAD is not responsible for the content or opinions expressed on external websites.

American Association of Suicidology ( (AAS)
The goal of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is to understand and prevent suicide. 
Official statistics show that more that 31,000 Americans kill themselves every year. The true figure is probably higher. The number of non-fatal suicide attempts is considerably greater, often resulting in serious injuries, trauma to families and friends, and economic loss to our society.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people ages 15-24, and is the eleventh leading cause of death among all persons.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the only national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and to reaching out to people with mood disorders and those affected by suicide.

Ananke
Swedish OCD Group
Swedish language.

Anxiety Care
Anxiety Care is a registered charity based in East London that specialises in helping people to recover from anxiety disorder and to maintain that recovery. With the support of our trained volunteers, clients are enabled to plan, initiate and carry through personal recovery programmes using cognitive behavioural techniques and gradual exposure exercises. Our services include mutual support groups, support and structured recovery groups, confidence building groups, a home visiting service, telephone helpline, and a one to one counselling service offering a variety of disciplines. Many of these services can be accessed by internet, email and telephone as well as face to face in the local area.

ABRATA
Brazilian Affective Disorders Association
The mission of the Association is to educate the patients, families, mental health professionals and society as a whole, on the nature and treatment of affective disorders; to promote support for patients and their families and; to eliminate stigma and discrimination; to promote research in the area.
This site is in Portuguese

ARGOS
Argos is a French Bipolar support group.
Aims:
To raise public understanding and awareness of bipolar disorder
To help patients manage their disease.
To give support to carers and families  
To support research in the field
This site is in French
Objectifs d'Argos
Mieux connaître et faire reconnaître les troubles bipolaires.
Aider les patients à gérer leur maladie.
Apporter un soutien aux proches
Favoriser la recherche médicale dans ce domaine.

Aware
Aware is a voluntary organization formed in 1985 by a group of interested patients, relatives and mental health professionals, whose aims are to assist that section of the population who are directly affected by depression.
Aware is based in Dublin

Balance New Zealand Bipolar and Depression Network
The mission of BALANCE is to provide support, education and advocacy to anyone affected by bipolar disorder (manic depression) in New Zealand. BALANCE does this by encouraging and fostering links between bipolar support groups; by promoting training with an emphasis on recovery principles; and by supporting further research on bipolar disorder in New Zealand.

Beyond Blue
beyondblue is a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia.

Bipolar Fellowship
The aims of Bipolar Fellowship Scotland are to provide information, support and advice for people affected by bipolar disorder/manic depression and all who care, to promote Self-Help throughout Scotland, to inform and educate about the illness and the organisation.

Bipolar Magazine
A USA based magazine which describes itself as...
bp Magazine is much more than a magazine for those living with bipolar disorder; it is a community for people with shared concerns and varied experiences. While each issue features helpful health and information about bipolar, bp Magazine's true purpose is to convey the personal stories of challenge and success that each person who lives with bipolar disorder faces. In doing so, our goal is to promote hope and harmony for bipolar individuals and the ones who love them.
Back issues are avaliable to search online. International subscriptions are avaliable.

Black Dog Institute
The Black Dog Institute is an educational, research, clinical and community-oriented facility dedicated to improving understanding, diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders.
The Black Dog Institute is based in Australia

Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
The Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation educates families, professionals, and the public about pediatric bipolar disorder; connects families with resources and support; advocates for and empowers affected families; and supports research on pediatric bipolar disorder and its cure.
The CABF is based in the USA

Chinese Mental Health Association
The Chinese Mental Health Association (CMHA) specializes in providing community based mental health assistance and support to the ever growing Chinese community in the United Kingdom
Wah Sum Helpline: 0845 122 8660 (Mon - Fri, 10am - 8pm)

The Clifford Beers Foundation
Working to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders through dissemination of knowledge, training partnerships and consultation.

Club D&A
(The Depression and Anxiety Club)
Club D&A offers Vienna (the Club HQ) and the individual Club D&A branches moderated self help groups. The purpose of club D&A is it to offer a safe, supportive environment for people to express their concerns about their illness, an environment where they are accepted and they can discuss any aspect of their illness and its affects on their home and work life.
Club D&A is a German language website based in Austria
Club D&A bietet im Clubzentrum Wien und in den einzelnen Club D&A-Filialen im Bundesgebiet moderierte Selbsthilfegruppen an. Der Zweck von Club D&A ist es, den unter Depressionen und/oder einer Angststörung Leidenden ein gastliches "Zuhause" zu bieten, einen Ort, an welchem sie sich aussprechen können, sie mit ihrer Depression und/oder Angsterkrankung angenommen sind, ihre Sorgen abladen können und ihren persönlichen Gesundungsweg beginnen bzw. fortsetzen können.

Console
Console is a Registered Charity supporting and helping people bereaved through suicide. We respect each individual’s unique journey through the grieving process following their tragic loss. Console promotes positive mental health within the community in an effort to reduce the high number of attempted suicides and deaths through suicide.
Console is based in Dublin, Ireland

Depression Alliance Cymru
Depression Alliance Cymru is the only organisation in Wales whose sole purpose is to support people affected by depression.
We can provide information, support and understanding.  We have a free information pack and a broad range of publications.  We also co-ordinate a network of self-help groups so that people can share experiences and coping strategies with others in similar situations.  Our services are available to anybody affected by depression in Wales but by joining us as a member you can be part of a growing community who support, empower and champion people affected by depression across Wales.

Depression Alliance
We work to relieve and to prevent this treatable condition by providing information and support services. We also campaign to raise awareness amongst the general public about the realities of depression.
Depression Alliance are based in London, UK

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is the USA’s leading patient-directed organization focusing on the most prevalent mental illnesses depression and bipolar disorder. The organization fosters an understanding about the impact and management of these life-threatening illnesses by providing up-to-date, scientifically-based tools and information written in language the general public can understand. DBSA supports research to promote more timely diagnosis, develop more effective and tolerable treatments and discover a cure. The organization works to ensure that people living with mood disorders are treated equitably.
The DBSA is based in the USA

DepressioNet
Our Purpose is: To empower people to make informed choices and find solutions to the challenges of living with depression.
DepressioNet is based in Australia

Destigmatize.co.uk
We are a new project of the National Phobics Society. We aim to provide information and support for sufferers of anxiety disorders mainly, but not exclusively, in the Asian population.
Destigmatize.co.uk is based in Manchester, UK

Equilibrium The Bipolar Foundation
We are an independent, international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving treatment and understanding of the causes and effects of bipolar disorder ('manic-depression').

GAMIAN
GAMIAN is the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks
GAMIAN is a not-for-profit international organization with its headquarters in New York City, USA. It is a non-political and non-sectarian network of organizations and individuals concerned about mental health.

GAMIAN-Europe
GAMIAN-Europe (Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks) is an international, non-profit, federation comprising users and consumers, family members, careers, health care professionals, representatives of government bodies and agencies, and other concerned parties who support or are interested in issues affecting those who suffer from a mental illness.

Gedhjalp
An Icelandic support group.

MDF The BiPolar Organisation
MDF The BiPolar Organisation is a user led charity working to enable people affected by Bipolar disorder / manic depression to take control of their lives.
The MDF is based in the UK
Mental Health Alliance
The Mental Health Alliance is a coalition of 78 organisations working together to secure a better mental health legislation. It is the broadest coalition in the mental health world
The Mental Health Alliance is based in the UK

Mental Health Care
From the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London,
the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and Rethink.
This web site is aimed at anyone providing support to someone experiencing mental illness. It contains information about mental health and mental illness, research findings from the Institute of Psychiatry and South London and Maudsley Trust and personal stories written by carers.

The Mental Health Council of Australia
The Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA) is the peak, national non-government organisation representing and promoting the interests of the Australian mental health sector, committed to achieving better mental health for all Australians.

Mental Health Foundation
Founded in 1949, the Mental Health Foundation is a leading UK charity that provides information, carries out research, campaigns and works to improve services for anyone affected by mental health problems, whatever their age and wherever they live.
The MHF is based in London

The Mental Illness Fellowship of South Australia
The Mental Illness Fellowship of SA is a not-for-profit, member-based, community organisation that provides services to South Australians living with mental illness and their care givers and family.

Mind
Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress by:

• advancing the views, needs and ambitions of people with mental health problems
• challenging discrimination and promoting inclusion
• influencing policy through campaigning and education
• inspiring the development of quality services which reflect expressed need and diversity
• achieving equal rights through campaigning and education.

The Mood Disorders Society of Canada
The Mood Disorders Society of Canada is a registered non-profit organization and without the financial support of the public, government, and corporate partners we are not able to deliver our important information and services to Canadians.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness - NAMI
NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons living with serious mental illness and their families. Founded in 1979, NAMI has become the nation’s voice on mental illness, a national organization including NAMI organizations in every state and in over 1100 local communities across the country who join together to meet the NAMI mission through advocacy, research, support, and education.
NAMI is based in the USA

National Phobics Society
NPS was established in 1970. Over the years we've grown to become the largest charity dealing with anxiety disorders. We are a user-led organisation, believing firmly that those who have personal experience of anxiety are often best-placed to support others similarly affected.
NPS is based in Manchester, UK

Depressiecentrum
Depression centre (formerly the depression foundation) is an organisation in the Netherlands dedicated to supporting those suffering from depression. 
The site is in Dutch

OCD Action
Established in 1991, OCD Action is the leading National charity for people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorders.
OCD Action is based in the UK

OCD-UK
OCD-UK is the leading charity for people who are affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Run by sufferers, for sufferers, we aim to bring the facts about OCD to the public and to support those who suffer from this often debilitating anxiety disorder.

PAPYRUS
PAPYRUS is a voluntary UK organisation committed to the prevention of young suicide and the promotion of mental health and emotional wellbeing.
PAPYRUS offers a telephone helpline
HOPELineUK 0870 170 4000
from 7pm to 10pm, Monday to Friday and 2pm to 5pm at weekends.
HOPELineUK is staffed by professionally qualified advisers who can give support, practical advice and information to anyone who is concerned that a young person they know may be suicidal.

National Personality Disorder Website
The National Personality Disorder Website – providing information, resources and learning opportunities on Personality Disorder (PD) as well as supporting the development of the National PD Programme.
National Personality Disorder Website is based in the UK

Rethink
Rethink, the leading national mental health membership charity, works to help everyone affected by severe mental illness recover a better quality of life.
Rethink is based in the UK

The Scottish Association for Mental Health
Scotland's leading mental health charity. We have many ambitions, but perhaps the most significant ambition we have identified is to raise the aspirations and expectations of people who use mental health services, people who deliver these services and society as a whole.

SANE is one of the UK's leading charities concerned with improving the lives of everyone affected by mental illness.
SANELINE
0845 767 8000
1pm to 11pm 356 days a year

SANE Australia
SANE Australia is an independent national charity helping people affected by mental illness through campaigning, education and research.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Association
The SAD Association is a voluntary organisation and registered charity which informs the public and health professions about SAD and supports and advises sufferers of the illness.

South African Depression and Anxiety Group
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group is Africa's largest and most recognised mental health initiative. As the nation's leading advocacy and educational voice on Mental Health, SADAG has been tirelessly committed to improving the mental health and well-being of thousands of South Africans.

Vereniging voor Manisch Depressieven en Betrokkenen
Dutch Manic Depression Group.
Dutch language site

World Federation for Mental Health
The World Federation for Mental Health is the only international, multidisciplinary, grassroots advocacy and education organisation concerned with all aspects of mental health

YoungMinds
YoungMinds is the national charity committed to improving the mental health of all children and young people in the UK.

Zito Trust
The Zito Trust is a registered mental health charity and was established in 1994,