When looking at current world events, it is easy to think that we live in an age of permanent crisis. A state of ongoing disruption to political, economic, and social life from which there is no foreseeable end — spanning the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflict, climate change, and the cost-of-living crisis.
However, another crisis has often been mentioned in the same breath as many of those listed above — frequently as a by-product — but seldom seems to attract the same urgency: mental health.
Today, mental health, and particularly serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia or major depressive disorder, remains one of the most neglected areas of health globally, carrying a significant toll on societies and economies. Adding up these losses within or across countries results in some very large and disconcerting numbers.
For example:
• Almost 1 billion people — approximately 1 in 8 — are currently living with a mental health condition, which can affect all areas of life and is a leading cause of disability and comorbidity. For example, while only 1 in 300 people live with schizophrenia, the condition is ranked among the top 25 leading causes of disability.
• Mental health costs the global economy an estimated $1 trillion through lost productivity. This number is projected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030.
• A person with a serious mental health condition dies on average 10 years to 20 years earlier than the general population.
However, despite the significant societal and economic burden, governments have been slow to act. According to the 2020 Mental Health Atlas, only 25% of the World Health Organization’s member states have integrated mental health into their health care systems. Strikingly, global governments spend on average around 2% of their health budgets on mental health.
“Mental health has long been largely ignored by the public and talked about by countless policymakers without any real action.”
—As a result, mental health services remain underfunded, overstretched, and increasingly out of reach for the vast majority of people living with mental illness, who struggle to get access to the quality and consistent treatment they need. In some countries, this can be just one psychiatrist to serve 200,000 or more people.
New research shows the same old story
These significant gaps were laid bare in a recent report by the Economist Impact, commissioned by Boehringer Ingelheim, exploring the state of mental health care in eight Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
The report “Rethinking mental healthcare: harnessing new approaches” assessed mental health provision in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It revealed that each country, regardless of geographic or demographic makeup, faces similar challenges that delay or deter people from accessing care. These include a lack of trained mental health professionals and complex, disjointed services that vary in quality and availability, particularly for those living outside of major cities. Additionally, these services are often underpinned by outdated and inefficient practices that treat patients the same way regardless of the intricacies of their mental health condition.
Make no mistake, if these findings were describing a health system or services for physical health, there would be outrage. Instead, mental health has long been largely ignored by the public and talked about by countless policymakers without any real action as a result of one of the most insidious, yet pervasive, factors — stigma.
While progress has been made to treat anxiety and depression, the general public, policymakers, and health care professionals still hold a stigma against serious mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, and as a result, do not know how to support people affected by those conditions. This stigma can deter people from seeking treatment, resulting in worse outcomes and untold strain for these individuals and their careers.
So, what can we do about it?
Beyond saving and improving countless lives, investing in mental health care increases productivity and provides a return on investment. People with good mental health experience better economic, educational, and health outcomes. But investing is more than just a financial commitment, it involves changing mindsets.
With regards to stigma, this involves long-running campaigns to educate the general public and normalize mental health treatment-seeking — particularly for serious mental health conditions that are not as frequently discussed. A great example of this is the ONE OF US national anti-stigma program in Denmark, which trains volunteers with experience of mental illness to act as ambassadors, helping to address misconceptions about mental health.
Alongside members of the public, institutions such as universities, teaching hospitals, and professional societies could help to change the mindset of those entering or who already are in the mental health workforce. By providing better support and training, they could help encourage more professionals to remain in the field while encouraging them to learn and collaborate more effectively across disciplines to provide care tailored to the patient.
A change in mindset could also help to unlock greater uptake of innovation within the profession. Mental health, and psychiatry in particular, is an area that is primed to take advantage of advances in precision medicine, with a wealth of digital support tools helping to provide patients with treatment and care tailored to their condition.
The countdown to 2030 is on
Supporting better mental health is central to achieving many of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, so it is imperative that governments start to deliver on their commitments in this area. We are starting to see some promising signs that mental health is being taken more seriously in policy circles, with Hungary making it a priority of their European Council presidency, and several high-level discussions planned among international policymakers across 2024 and 2025.
We must grasp this opportunity to make mental health a vital public health priority and help fix a broken system that is denying people with serious mental illness from living the lives they deserve.
Discover the full insights from the “Rethinking mental healthcare: harnessing new approaches” report here.
About the author
Nedim Pipic
Nedim Pipic oversees the therapeutic area of the central nervous system, retinopathies, and emerging areas at Boehringer Ingelheim since August 2022. In his role, he leads the strategic direction of the portfolio with a focus on addressing high, unmet needs in serious mental health conditions. Pipic is a medical doctor by training and holds a degree from the Medical University of Vienna.
