Mental health is essential to people's well-being and functioning. Around the world cities have come to realize that the mental health of its inhabitants requires more attention. Psychiatry as a discipline plays only a modest role in improving mental health. A change is needed because it's the only way to improve persistent bottlenecks around the enormous demand for mental health treatment and to make a start with actually preventing mental illness.

'Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie' has published an edition on proactive psychiatry. 'Proactive' indicates an attitude of early anticipation of the fact that psychiatric illness and its consequences develop over the life course. The central question of this issue is not only what proactive psychiatry would look like, but also how it could be implemented.

Read the edition on proactive psychiatry on the 'Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie' website.