August 02, 2023
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A new study found that half of the world's population will experience a mental illness by the time they turn 75.
About half of the world’s population will experience a mental health disorder by the time they turn 75, according to an extensive, globe-spanning study published this week.
The study looked at the global prevalence and age of onset for 13 mental health disorders as defined in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the guidebook used by psychiatrists and mental health professionals to define and diagnose mental health disorders. According to the study, "approximately half the population can expect to develop one or more" of the 13 mental disorders by the time they reach the age of 75.
Most common were mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Among women, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder were the three most common mental health disorders reported. Men most commonly struggled with alcohol abuse, depression and anxiety.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School and published in the Lancet Psychiatry, analyzed survey data about mental health disorders from more than 156,000 adults across 29 countries between 2001 and 2022. It found that mental health disorders tend to develop when people are relatively young; for men, the median age of onset was 19 years old, while for women it was 20.
The findings underscore the growing and urgent need for mental health care resources, especially for children and adolescents. This urgency has only intensified in the last few years, as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted mental health around the world.
Three years after the pandemic began, 90% of U.S. adults said they thought the country was facing a mental health crisis, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Indeed, 41% of U.S. adults reported experiencing heightened levels of psychological distress during the pandemic, according to the Pew Research Center.
The post-pandemic mental health crisis has been especially challenging for younger people. Earlier this year, the American Psychological Association said that children’s mental health was “in crisis,” noting that feelings of persistent sadness, hopelessness and suicidal ideation were already on the rise among adolescents about 10 years before the pandemic began. According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, 37% of U.S. high school students said they experienced mental health challenges during the pandemic.
Philadelphia is no stranger to mental health struggles. According to 2015 survey data, 46% of Philadelphia adults reported "experiencing poor mental health," and that was before Covid forced residents to endure prolonged exposure to stress and social isolation, which are known to have harmful effects on mental well-being.
Across Pennsylvania, more 1.8 million residents have a mental illness, with 40% of residents having reported symptoms of depression or anxiety in 2021, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That same year, Pennsylvania reported 1,885 suicide deaths, a 10% increase over the previous year.
Solutions are not always easy to come by. As in much of the nation, access to mental health care remains a challenge for many in Pennsylvania. Of the Pennsylvania state residents struggling with a mental health condition, more than half of them did not receive mental health treatment in the last year, according to NAMI. In many cases, that was because people couldn’t afford it.
