Swiss Mad Pride campaigners call for an end to mental-health stigma

Several hundred people filled Bern’s Bundesplatz on Saturday for the fourth Swiss Mad Pride, bringing a public campaign against mental health stigma to the doorstep of the Swiss Parliament. Participants, supporters and representatives of community organisations gathered to promote visibility, acceptance and inclusion for people living with mental health conditions.

A 50-metre pink carpet marked the centre of the event. Organisers asked people to walk its length “with dignity and pride”, turning a familiar civic space into a platform for experiences that often remain private. There was no parade this year. The carpet provided the event’s visual focus and gave participants a direct way to be seen.

A banner carried a simple demand: “Everyday inclusion instead of stigma.” The message reflected the campaign’s emphasis on ordinary social participation, from workplaces and schools to healthcare and public life. Around 20 organisations set up stands at the event, creating space for information, conversation and support.

Mad Pride gives people living with mental health conditions a collective presence in a country where organisers say these conditions are among the most common health issues. The Bern gathering connected that claim to a visible public action, with the federal government district as its backdrop.

The pink carpet gave the campaign a shared public stage without relying on a traditional march. Organisers described the walk as an invitation to claim visibility and dignity, allowing participants to take part at their own pace and on their own terms.

That choice matters for a movement built around experiences that are frequently misunderstood or hidden. Mental health conditions can affect people across Swiss communities, yet stigma can shape how individuals speak about their lives, seek help or are treated by others. Mad Pride uses public visibility to challenge stereotypes and to make conversations about mental health more ordinary.

The Bern event also placed lived experience alongside practical support. With around 20 organisations represented, visitors could encounter groups working across advocacy, information and community care. The source does not identify the organisations individually, but their presence showed the breadth of the network behind the campaign.

The organisers’ slogan, “Everyday inclusion instead of stigma,” places responsibility beyond a single annual event. It points to the settings where acceptance is tested repeatedly: public services, workplaces, schools, families and friendships. The campaign’s language is direct, asking Swiss society to recognise people with mental health conditions as participants in daily life rather than as problems to be kept out of sight.

Swiss Mad Pride has moved between cities since its first national appearance in Geneva in 2019. Bern hosted an event in 2022, Lausanne followed in 2023, and the movement returned to the federal city this year for its fourth Swiss edition.

The route through Geneva, Bern and Lausanne reflects a campaign that has developed across language regions and political centres. Geneva provided the starting point in Switzerland. Bern brought the action to the country’s seat of federal politics. Lausanne added a presence in French-speaking Switzerland. Each location offers a different public setting for the same demand: people living with mental health conditions should be visible and included.

The movement itself began in Canada before spreading internationally. In Switzerland, its organisers have used public gatherings to connect advocacy with local networks. The Bern event’s stands allowed participating organisations to present their work directly to the public, while the carpet gave the campaign a recognisable symbol.

The event also comes as mental health has gained greater attention in Switzerland. Swissinfo reported in 2024 that recent figures confirmed an increase in mental illness, although the Mad Pride source does not provide specific national figures. Organisers say public discussion must continue alongside services and treatment, because stigma can persist even when awareness grows.

The organisers are asking Switzerland to carry the campaign beyond Bundesplatz. Their focus on everyday inclusion places mental health in the routine spaces where people work, study, receive care and maintain relationships. Those settings will determine whether the visibility created by Mad Pride leads to lasting acceptance.

The event offered no single programme for reform, and the source names no new policy measures. Its significance lies in the public coalition it assembled: several hundred participants, around 20 organisations and a campaign that has now appeared in multiple Swiss cities. That coalition can keep pressure on institutions to communicate clearly about mental health and to make participation possible for people with different needs.

The organisers’ description of mental health conditions as common but often invisible also sets a clear direction for future events. More open discussion can help reduce stereotypes, while community organisations can connect people with information and support. The campaign’s public format gives those conversations a place in civic life.

For Switzerland, the next test will come after the carpet is removed and the stands are packed away. The fourth Mad Pride has added another visible chapter to a movement that began in Geneva seven years ago. Its message now sits in the federal city: inclusion has to be practised every day.