Europe Faces Mental Health Disorder Epidemic

According to a newly-released statistical analysis, it would appear that fighting mental health disorders will be Europe's primary and most difficult challenge over the coming decades. As much as 40 percent of its population is diagnosed with one or more such condition every single year.

There are numerous disorders that fit the bill, but the most commonly-reported ones include depression, anxiety, insomnia, somatoform disorders (which affect the brain, but have physical manifestation, such as body dysmorphic disorder) and dependency on alcohol and drugs.

By taking a statistical look back in time, the report determined that the rate at which Europeans develop mental disorders has declined over the past 6 years, but only by a slight, insignificant margin. This implies that the prevalence these diseases have has largely remained unchanged.

Experts used this study as an opportunity to produce an update to dated statistics. However, unlike other circumstances, they decided to collect significantly more data. This in turn allowed them a higher degree of precision in understanding how the population is affected.

Perhaps the most puzzling discovery made by the research team – which is based at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) – is that the majority of patients are never treated for their conditions, or even the symptoms that characterize them.

In addition to the European Union, the investigation also covered data collected from Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, so as to get a deeper insight into the matter. A total of 514 million people were surveyed for creating this update, PsychCentral reports.

The team checked for several neurological disorders, as well as all major mental health disorders, in population groups divided between children and adolescents (aged 2 to 17), adults (18-65), and seniors (65+ years).

An important conclusion was that marginalization and stigmatization toward disorders of the brain is one of the main reasons leading to such poor treatment levels in the affected population. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment were limited by low public awareness of mental health disorders as well.

Regardless of how people view this issue, the fact remains that the equivalent of 38.2 percent of the EU population, which is nearly 165 million people, is affected by one or more mental health disorders.

As expected, anxiety disorders (14 percent), insomnia (7 percent) and major depression (nearly 7 percent) were the most common conditions, followed by somatoform disorders (6.3 percent), alcohol and drug dependency (>4 percent) and attentiondeficit and hyperactivity disorders (5 percent in the young).

“Concerted priority action is needed at all levels, including substantially increased funding for basic and clinical as well as public health research in order to identify better strategies for improved prevention and treatment for disorders of the brain as the core health challenge of the 21st century,” the experts conclude.