While mental disorders affect over a billion people globally, there is a significant disparity in how these conditions impact different genders.
According to an updated 2022 report by the World Health Organisation: Transforming mental health for all, women suffer mental disorders more than men.
The data from the report show that women are more likely to experience specific mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.
The prevalence of anxiety disorders is 5.5 per cent for females versus 3.3 per cent for males.
Depressive disorders are more prevalent in females at 4.8 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent in males.
The report also indicates that women are more often impacted by eating disorders, with a prevalence of 0.3 per cent for females versus 0.1 per cent for males.
“Eating disorders occur mainly among older adolescents and young adults and are more common among females, 0.8 per cent in females aged 20–24 years compared with 0.4 per cent in males in the same age group,” the report noted.
The report noted that in both males and females, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders are the most common.
It stated that suicide affects people from all countries and contexts and is a major cause of death among young people.
“Globally, suicide accounts for more than one in every 100 deaths and for each death, there are 20 suicide attempts. Mental disorders account for one in twenty disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally,” the report noted.
“They are also the second leading cause of years lived with disability (YLDs), accounting for one in every six YLDs globally. Depressive and anxiety disorders are major contributors to YLDs in all age groups (except 0–5-year-olds), and especially for 15–29-year-olds.”
The primary concern is schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which affect about 1 in 200 and 1 in 150 adults.
Schizophrenia in its acute state is modelled to be the most impairing of all health conditions.
The economic consequences of mental health conditions are enormous, with productivity losses and other indirect costs to society far outstripping health care costs.
Financially, schizophrenia is the costliest mental disorder per person to society. Depressive and anxiety disorders are less costly per person, but since they are much more prevalent, these collectively contribute significantly to overall national costs.
