Nearly 1.2 Billion People Worldwide Experience Mental Disorders, Young Adults Most Affected

Mental disorders continue to increase across various countries. A new study published in The Lancet reveals that nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide lived with mental disorders in 2023, with anxiety and depression being the most frequently identified cases.

According to CNN, global mental disorder cases have increased by 95.5 per cent compared to 1990.

The research also showed a dramatic rise in anxiety cases, which increased by 158 per cent, and depression, which increased by 131 per cent, over the past three decades.

This research analysed data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023, which covered 204 countries and territories worldwide.

“I was truly shocked at the magnitude of this increase,” said Santomauro.

According to the research, the most common mental disorders found in 2023 were anxiety disorders and depression.

Additionally, researchers also noted increases in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents.

Although anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and schizophrenia represented the disorders with the smallest numbers compared to others, their cases remained significant. The research noted approximately 4 million cases of anorexia nervosa, 14 million cases of bulimia, and 26 million cases of schizophrenia worldwide in 2023.

Before the pandemic, anxiety and depression figures had already been increasing. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, depression cases continued to rise and have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, anxiety figures reportedly peaked during the pandemic and remained elevated through 2023.

Paul Bolton, a senior researcher from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, stated that the data likely represents the closest approximation to current real-world conditions.

“This estimate is probably the closest figure we have to the actual conditions we face at present,” Bolton said.