amazon-spot

                          Mental disorders

Key Facts

• Prevalence: 1 in 8 people worldwide live with a mental disorder.
• Characteristics: Mental disorders involve significant disturbances in thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior.
• Variety: There are many different types of mental disorders.
• Treatment: Effective prevention and treatment options exist.
• Access: Most people with mental disorders do not have access to effective care.

Overview

A mental disorder is characterized by clinically significant disturbances in cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, often associated with distress or impairment in functioning. Mental disorders may also be referred to as mental health conditions, a broader term encompassing psychosocial disabilities and other states associated with distress, impairment, or risk of self-harm. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) provides detailed descriptions of various mental disorders.

Prevalence and Impact

In 2019, approximately 1 in 8 people, or 970 million individuals globally, were living with a mental disorder. The most common are anxiety and depressive disorders, and these numbers surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with anxiety disorders increasing by 26% and major depressive disorders by 28% in 2020. Despite the availability of effective prevention and treatment, most people with mental disorders lack access to proper care and often face stigma, discrimination, and human rights violations.

Common Mental Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

• Prevalence: 301 million people globally in 2019, including 58 million children and adolescents.
• Characteristics: Anxiety disorders involve excessive fear and worry, leading to significant distress or impairment. Types include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder.
• Treatment: Effective psychological treatments exist, and medications may be considered depending on age and severity.

Depression

• Prevalence: 280 million people globally in 2019, including 23 million children and adolescents.
• Characteristics: Depression involves prolonged periods of low mood, loss of interest in activities, and other symptoms such as poor concentration, feelings of guilt, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, and physical symptoms like changes in sleep and appetite.
• Treatment: Effective psychological treatments exist, with medications considered for certain cases.

Bipolar Disorder

• Prevalence: 40 million people globally in 2019.
• Characteristics: Bipolar disorder involves alternating depressive episodes and periods of manic symptoms, such as euphoria, irritability, increased activity, racing thoughts, and impulsive behavior.
• Treatment: Treatment options include psychoeducation, stress reduction, social functioning support, and medications.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Characteristics: PTSD may develop after exposure to traumatic events, leading to re-experiencing the event, avoidance behaviors, and a heightened sense of current threat. These symptoms cause significant impairment.
• Treatment: Effective psychological treatments are available.

Schizophrenia

• Prevalence: 24 million people globally, or 1 in 300.
• Characteristics: Schizophrenia involves significant impairments in perception, such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and behavioral disturbances.
• Treatment: A range of treatment options includes medication, psychoeducation, family interventions, and psychosocial rehabilitation.

Eating Disorders

• Prevalence: 14 million people globally in 2019, including almost 3 million children and adolescents.
• Characteristics: Disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa involve abnormal eating behaviors, body weight concerns, and significant health risks.
• Treatment: Effective treatments include family-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Disruptive Behavior and Dissocial Disorders

• Prevalence: 40 million people globally, including children and adolescents.
• Characteristics: These disorders, including conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, involve persistent behavior problems like defiance, disobedience, and violation of societal norms.
• Treatment: Psychological treatments often involve parents, caregivers, teachers, and social skills training.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

• Characteristics: Neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD, intellectual development disorders, and autism spectrum disorder, involve significant difficulties in specific intellectual, motor, language, or social functions.
• Treatment: Treatment options include psychosocial and behavioral interventions, occupational and speech therapy, and medications for certain conditions.

Risk Factors

Mental disorders can be influenced by a combination of individual, family, community, and structural factors. Those exposed to adverse circumstances like poverty, violence, disability, and inequality are at higher risk. Psychological and biological factors, including emotional skills and genetics, also play a role.

Health Systems and Social Support

Health systems globally have not adequately responded to the needs of people with mental disorders, often being under-resourced and delivering poor-quality care. For example, only 29% of people with psychosis and a third of those with depression receive formal mental health care. In addition to medical care, people with mental disorders require social support in maintaining relationships, education, employment, housing, and participation in meaningful activities.

WHO Response

The World Health Organization's Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 emphasizes mental health as essential for overall health. The plan's four objectives include strengthening mental health governance, providing comprehensive mental health and social care services, implementing mental health promotion and prevention strategies, and enhancing information systems, evidence, and research for mental health. WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) focuses on expanding services in resource-poor settings, using evidence-based tools and training to support non-specialized healthcare providers in managing mental health conditions.

References

• Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx), Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.
• WHO, Mental Health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact.
• Charlson et al., New WHO prevalence estimates of mental disorders in conflict settings, Lancet (2019).
• Laursen TM et al., Excess early mortality in schizophrenia, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology (2014).
• WHO, Mental health atlas (2020).
• Moitra M et al., The global gap in treatment coverage for major depressive disorder, PLoS Med