Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with mental disorders

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Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide had mental disorders in 2023, reflecting a 95.5% increase since 1990, a new study has found.

The largest increases were in anxiety and depression, which were also the most common disorders in 2023. In third place was a residual category of personality disorders not accompanied by other mental or substance use disorders.

The study, published Thursday in the journal The Lancet, also revealed how trends concerning 12 mental disorders differed by age, sex, location and sociodemographic factors among 204 countries and territories — suggesting “that we are entering an even more concerning phase of worsening mental disorder burden globally,” the authors wrote in the study.

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“There are many factors at play here, and it is difficult to tease them all apart,” added Santomauro, associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland in Australia. “Addressing these risk factors requires global collective leadership.”

The other mental disorders measured were bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia, bulimia, dysthymia, conduct disorder and developmental intellectual disability from unknown causes. Dysthymia is a long-term but mild form of depression also known as persistent depressive disorder. Conduct disorder affects children and teens and involves a consistent pattern of disobedient and aggressive behaviors.

The researchers found increases in all 12 disorders, including an 158% rise in anxiety and an 131% uptick in depression compared with 1990. The least common disorders were anorexia, bulimia and schizophrenia — though those conditions aren’t rare, with roughly 4 million, 14 million and 26 million cases, respectively, in 2023. Most mental disorders were more common in females, but autism, conduct disorders, ADHD, personality disorders and inexplicable intellectual disability were actually more common in males.

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Mental disorders increasingly are a leading cause of disability, with females and people ages 15 to 39 most affected. While greater burden among females is typical, the peak in the 15- to 19-year-old age group is a first in GBD study history, Santomauro said. “We have historically always seen this peak in middle-age,” he added.

The younger age range is a vulnerable and important period for the development of the brain and social and intellectual skills, said Dr. Robert Trestman, chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Interrupted development can have long-term repercussions, added Trestman, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Many positive and negative factors contribute to the higher rates, experts said. “The stigma of mental illness has been substantially reduced — people are much more comfortable coming forward, as opposed to suffering in silence,” Trestman said. Trestman is also chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s council on healthcare systems and financing.

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