The Centre for Urban Mental Health

Finding new pathways to improve mental health in the city.

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than in rural areas. Unfortunately, city life can be challenging for mental well-being. How can we help people thrive in an urban environment and reduce the burden of mental disorders like depression, addiction and anxiety? 


At the Centre for Urban Mental Health, researchers from different fields use the tools of complexity science to find answers. 


Check out this 1-minute video of our Centre below...

New events will be posted soon. Keep an eye out!

New Job Vacancy!

Postdoc Urban Mental Health - City Labs


Do you want to play a central role in a variety of collaborative "city lab" projects with stakeholders relating to mental health issues in Amsterdam?



Click here to find out more and to apply!

How can it be that a person loses control over his actions? And what does it take - physically, psychologically, and socially - to bounce back? Co-director of the Centre for Urban Mental Health Reinout Wiers, wrote a book titled Akrasia, about the neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology of addiction. 

Complexity Science is the language that binds the research of the Centre for Urban Mental Health. But what is it exactly? And how can it help us understand the dynamics of mental health taking shape in an urban environment? Peter Sloot, Professor of Complex Adaptive Systems and board member of the Centre for Urban Mental Health, explains...

On Monday 8 January, on the 'Dies Natalis' of the UvA, we hosted our symposium 'Societal Challenges, Global Mental Health + Humane AI' to showcase the work of our nominee, Prof. Vikram Patel, and the nominee of AI, Prof. Chris Manning.

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