Mental and brain health

 

Global strategic direction

Mental health

Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community. Mental health remains a neglected part of public health agendas. This is while  mental disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability, accounting for one in every six (15.6%) years lived with disability (YLD)s globally. Substance use disorders account for a further 3.1% of YLDs.

Mental health problems also have a big health socio-economic impact on societies. It is estimated that depression and anxiety alone are associated with up to US$ 1 trillion per year in economic losses. Depression is ranked by WHO as the second largest contributor to global disability (5.6% of all years lived with disability in 2019). Over 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression and 301 million people from anxiety disorders, while global suicide (up to 700,000 deaths per year) is a leading cause of death in young people. The statistics for mental disorders are continuing to increase because populations are growing, and more people live to the age when depression and anxiety most commonly occur.

Around two of three people experiencing mental health conditions do not receive a treatment. The Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 aims to promote mental health and well-being, prevent mental disorders, provide care, enhance recovery, promote human rights and reduce mortality, morbidity and disability for persons with mental disorders.

Brain health

Brain health is a rapidly expanding field that is receiving increasing attention from the health sector and the wider society in recent years. Brain health can be defined as the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.

Optimizing brain health requires actions to improve the many factors that influence it, including physical health, healthy environments, safety and security, learning and social connection, and access to quality services. The Intersectoral global action plan on epilepsy and other neurological disorders 2022–2031, adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2022, recognized this by envisaging “a world in which: brain health is valued, promoted and protected across the life course; neurological disorders are prevented, diagnosed and treated, and premature mortality and morbidity are avoided; and people affected by neurological disorders and their carers attain the highest possible level of health, with equal rights, opportunities, respect and autonomy”.

Guided by WHO’s 13th Global Programme of Work, WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse’s (MSD) mission is to reduce the burden associated with mental, neurological and substance use disorders, and to promote mental health worldwide. This work contributes towards the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4 on mental health and wellbeing.