A new study published in the scientific journal The Lancet Psychiatry found that by 75 years of age, approximately half the world’s population can expect to develop one or more of 13 mental health disorders. The two most prevalent disorders were alcohol use disorder and major depressive disorder for males, and major depressive disorder and specific phobia — a disturbing anxiety that interferes with daily life ─ for female respondents.
According to Axios, the number of Americans experiencing mental health challenges has risen in recent years, particularly during the pandemic. The study found that certain disorders such as depression and addiction are on the rise globally. Researchers at the University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School analyzed data from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Mental Health surveys.
The data offered the largest coordinated series of face-to-face interviews on this subject with more than 150,000 adults from 29 countries participating over a two-decade span. The interviews helped determine at what age these mental illnesses first appeared, how prevalent they are, and the morbidity risk by age 75, says Axios.
Researchers found that mental disorders “typically first emerge in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.” The median age at which disorders emerged was 19 for men and 20 years for women. Shockingly, one in two people were estimated to have at least one mental illness. This is a sharp increase from the one in every eight people worldwide, or 970 million people around the world, who were thought to suffer with a mental disorder, anxiety and depressive disorder in 2019, according to a WHO fact sheet.
“The most common were mood disorders such as major depression or anxiety,” said lead study author John McGrath, a professor at University of Queensland’s Queensland Brain Institute, in a news release. “We also found that the risk of mental health disorders differed by sex.”
The three most common mental health disorders among women are:
- Depression.
- Specific phobia, an anxiety that interferes with daily life.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The three most common mental health disorders among men are:
- Alcohol abuse.
- Depression.
- Specific phobia.
Since the research also discovered that mental illness peaked at first onset at age 15, with a median age of onset at 19 for men and 20 for women, the study authors made the point that we need to invest in mental health services for young people.
“By understanding the age at which these disorders commonly arise, we can tailor public health interventions and allocate resources to ensure that appropriate and timely support is available to individuals at risk,” said the researchers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness, and more are seeking therapy, says Axios. However, mental health providers are struggling to keep up with the demand.