The Numbers Behind Global Mental Health and Its Different Disorders

Nearly one in eight people in the world lives with a mental disorder, and one person dies by suicide every 43 seconds.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening in Geneva, Switzerland this week for the 79th World Health Assembly, where mental health is among the more than 75 agenda items that will be discussed.

More than one billion people – roughly one in eight people globally – are currently living with a mental health condition, according to the WHO. And that number is rising.

Of those affected, young people are among the hardest hit, while men face higher rates of suicide and women are experiencing disproportionately higher rates of anxiety and depression.

Despite the scale of the crisis, mental health is chronically underfunded – median government spending globally on mental health is just two percent of health budgets, according to the WHO.

What are mental health disorders?

Mental health disorders are conditions that affect how people feel, think and behave.

The WHO and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) categorise mental health conditions into several groups.

Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorders, affect a person’s mental state, often leading to prolonged periods of sadness or mood swings.

Anxiety disorders include generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social anxiety and phobias, which are characterised by fear or worry.

Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, involve delusions, distorted thinking and hallucinations.

Trauma-related disorders, which include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), develop in response to distressing or life-threatening events.

There are also other mental health conditions such as eating disorders, personality disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, dissociative disorders and substance use disorders.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of mental health disorders rose globally, with anxiety and depression surging in particular. According to the latest Global Burden of Disease report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the disease burden caused by mental illnesses, which uses a measure called DALYs (Disability-Adjusted Life Years), is as follows:

Depressive disorders 694.6 per 100,000

Anxiety disorders 686.5 per 100,000

Schizophrenia 210.2 per 100,000

Bipolar disorder 94.6 per 100,000

Eating disorders 47.5 per 100,000

Mental health disorders are the leading global contributors to disability, accounting for roughly one in every six years lived with disability (YLDs) worldwide – the second biggest cause of long-term disability, according to the WHO.

- Author: Hanna Duggal, Al Jazeera

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