GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH FACTS

 

• Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It affects 350 million people.

 

• In low and middle-income countries, public expenditures on mental health average less than US $2 per capita.

 

• Low income countries average 0.05 psychiatrists and 0.42 nurses per 100,000 people, while high income countries may have more than 50 per 100,000 population

 

• The median number of mental health beds per 100,000 population is less than five in low and lower-middle income countries and more than 50 per 100,000 population in high income countries. Equally large disparities exist for outpatient services and welfare support.

 

Youth

 

• About half of mental disorders begin before the age of 14.

 

• Around 20 percent of the world's children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems; it is similar across cultures.  The regions of the world with the highest percentage of population under age 19 have the lowest levels of mental health resources.

 

• Most low- and middle-income countries have only 1 child psychiatrist for every 1 to 4 million people.

 

Disasters and Economic Impacts

 

• Mental disorders are among the risk factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases.  They can also contribute to unintentional and intentional injury.

 

• It is projected that by 2030 unipolar depressive disorders will be the leading cause of productive years lost to disability, ahead of heart disease, traffic accidents, and HIV/AIDS.

 

• A loss of productivity results in a loss of income.  This, in turn, can produce deleterious health consequences due to hardships such as poorer nutrition or increased stress.

 

Community

 

• Efforts to rebuild war torn societies are hindered by the failure to address psychological consequences of trauma.

 

• Data from Rwanda indicate that exposure to the trauma of genocide in 1994 was strongly correlated with PTSD symptoms 11 years later in 2005.

 

• PTSD symptoms were associated with lower physical functioning, more bodily pain, lower general health, etc.

 

 

Source: World Health Organization