Researchers from The University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School discovered that half of the world’s population had at least one disorder by the time they were 75 after analyzing data from more than 150,000 adults in 29 countries between 2001 and 2022.
The most prevalent were mood disorders, such as serious sadness or anxiety. The researchers also discovered that sex differences in the likelihood of a specific mental health issue existed. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was shown to be more common in women, whereas alcohol misuse was more common in men.
The majority of cases begin in childhood or adolescence.
The median age of onset for men and women was 19 and 20, respectively, with 15 being the greatest age of first onset, according to lead author Professor McGrath of Queensland University’s Brain Institute.
This supports the idea that funding for fundamental neuroscience research is necessary to comprehend how these mental health issues arise.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately a billion people in the world were living with mental health issues in 2019.
The findings, according to Harvard Medical School Professor Ronald Kessler, underline the need for more funding for mental health services, especially for children and adolescents.
According to him, services must be tailored to patients during these crucial stages of their lives and be able to quickly detect and treat prevalent mental problems.
We can modify public health interventions and resource allocation to ensure that appropriate and timely help is provided to people at risk by understanding the ages at which these diseases frequently manifest.
“Mental disorders are a major health issue with a significant unmet need for treatment,” he continued.
“Allocation is frequently insufficient, despite the fact that many scalable treatments for prevention and treatment have been developed.” This study offers crucial information that may be used to focus efforts and maximize the effectiveness of various interventions.
On Wednesday, the report was released in The Lancet.
