Back to bookshelf

Half of World’s Population Will Experience a Mental Health Disorder 

science•research paper•View Source
Appreciation
--
Importance
8
Date Added
8.24.25
TLDR
Half of us will face a diagnosable mental disorder by age 75, most starting in our teens or 20s. Women more vulnerable to depression/anxiety, men more vulnerable to alcohol/drug problems.
2 Cents
I included some notes on the survey process below.
Tags

The actual source: Age of onset and cumulative risk of mental disorders: a cross-national analysis of population surveys from 29 countries .

  • Where did the data come from?

    • They didn't conduct any interviews themselves, they pooled data from World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative.

    • Also to note, there's bias with these surveys is that people who respond differ from those who don't.

      1. They try to do weighting adjustments to account for this.

      2. With some digging around, the claim seems to be that the actual rates are likely higher than what surveys can capture, because:

        • People with serious disorders are less likely to respond

        • They exclude high-risk or institutionalized groups (see this review )

        • Some suggestion that nonresponders share poorer mental health profiles

          Because the determinants of non-response and depressive disorders were similar, it is reasonable to assume that there will be more people with mental health problems among the non-respondents. (source )