Experts say that globally, mental health disorders have nearly doubled since 1990, with recent research published in The Lancet finding almost 1.2bn people worldwide are afflicted with a mental health condition, reports ABC News.
The surge over the past three decades means they now account for more than 17% of all disability worldwide, according to the report published last week.
The peer-reviewed study by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and the University of Queensland showed that in 1990, there were an estimated 599m cases of mental health disorders globally: 33 years later, in 2023, there were an estimated 1.17bn cases around the world.
Of the 12 mental disorders assessed, anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders were the most common.
The number of anxiety disorder cases increased from 182m in 1990 to 470m in 2023, an increase of more than 47% after accounting for population growth.
Major depressive disorders increased by 24%, from 102m cases in 1990 to 236m cases in 2023.
Lead author Dr Damian Santomauro, an Associate Professor at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and an affiliate Assistant Professor at IHME, said: “These rising trends may reflect both the lingering effects of pandemic-related stress and longer-term structural drivers such as poverty, insecurity, abuse, violence and declining social connectedness.
“Addressing this growing challenge will require sustained investment in mental health systems, expanded access to care, and co-ordinated global action to better support populations most at risk.”
Global disability from mental disorders ‘even more concerning’
The report looked at the data available for a dozen different mental disorders, including anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anorexia and bulimia.
The data came from the IHME’s 2023 Global Burden of Disease study, the largest and most comprehensive health study to date, first conducted in 1990.
Comparing the number of cases also allowed researchers to calculate the “disability-adjusted life-years”, or DALYs.
Mental disorders were the fifth leading cause of DALYs globally in 2023, up from 12th place in 1990. In total, they accounted for 171m lost years of life globally in 2023.
“Declining mortality rates from communicable, maternal, nutritional and neonatal diseases over the past 30 years have allowed many more individuals to live longer,” the report said.
“But [that is] not without increasing occurrences of chronic and disabling illnesses like mental disorders.
“Mental disorders have been a leading cause of disability globally for decades.
“However, (Global Burden of Disease study) 2023 findings suggest that we are entering an even more concerning phase.”
The report also found both the number of cases and DALYs were not distributed equally. Anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders comprised the largest portion of the mental disorder burden.
Both were also among the 20 leading causes of DALYs in 152 of the 204 countries featured in the Global Burden of Disease study. Both peaked in the years after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite its lower case numbers, schizophrenia was the third-leading cause of mental disorder DALYs globally “due to its high severity”.
Young people, women disproportionately affected
People at every stage of life were affected, according to the report, but the type of mental health disorder varied by age.
Co-author Dr Alize Ferrari, an honorary Associate Professor at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, in partnership with the University of Queensland, and an affiliate assistant Professor at IHME, said their findings showed that mental disorder burden “peaks among 15-19-year-olds, which is a critical development period that can shape trajectories for education, employment, and relationships”.
All 12 of the disorders reviewed were present among the 15-19-year age group, “the age at which anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder became most prevalent”, according to the report.
The DALY rate remained high between 20 and 39, before slowly declining from age 40 onwards.
“Mental disorders thus pose challenges for individuals of (or approaching) working age, who are expected to contribute economically and as caregivers,” the report said.
“Overall, these trends highlight the need to promote mental well-being across the life course, with prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes for children, families, and communities into adulthood.”
Women were also disproportionately affected, with 620m globally living with a mental disorder in 2023.
This compared with 552m men of all ages living with a mental disorder at the same time.
Women also had a higher overall burden of mental illness – totalling 92.6m DALYs, compared with 78.6m among men.
“Compared with males, females experience lower self-esteem, greater tendency towards body-related shame, and higher rates of domestic violence and sexual abuse,” the authors wrote, and more research was needed to investigate the factors contributing to the split between men and women.
Global and individual changes driving mental health downturn
The results were “not surprising”, said Professor Philip Batterham, co-head of the Australian National University’s Centre for Mental Health Research.
But he stressed the need for caution when estimating the rate of mental disorders.
“It has gone up markedly, but so did the population from 1990 to 2023,” he told the ABC.
“If you’re looking at the age-standardised rates, that’s a better indicator of how much it’s going up in terms of proportions.”
The report noted it had attempted to minimise error caused by different case definitions and data collection strategies, something Batterham also raised as a potential limitation.
“They’re typically using self-report measures,” Batterham said.
“So people would report what symptoms they’re experiencing and then from that we can infer whether they might meet criteria for a mental disorder.
“But this isn’t the same as being diagnosed with a mental disorder, so in some cases you do get overestimates.”
He added different cultural understandings of mental disorders could also influence case numbers.
“What stood out was … places with the largest increases seem to be low-to-middle-income countries,” he said.
“There are global trends towards greater inequity, greater globalisation that may lead to changes within different cultures and potentially increasing levels of mental ill health [in those regions].
“Because mental health is such a complex condition, it’s influenced by all sorts of factors. As we’ve seen more global changes such as war and economic challenges … things like technology use and job changes can also have impacts at an individual level.
“So can relationships, sleep and lifestyle habits.
“When you combine all of those, there’s potential for these global drivers … and more local and individual factors that might influence these numbers we’re seeing."
Study details
Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023
GBD 2023 Mental Disorder Collaborators†
Published in The Lancet on 23 May 2026
Summary
Background
The 2023 iteration of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) estimated prevalence, incidence, and health burden for 375 diseases and injuries, including 12 mental disorders. We assess past, current, and emerging trends in the prevalence and burden of mental disorders across sexes and age groups, for 21 regions, 204 countries and territories, and by Socio-demographic Index (SDI) quintile, from 1990 to 2023.
Methods
Mental disorders included in GBD 2023 were anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability, and a residual category of other mental disorders. A literature review identified epidemiological data for each disorder. These were analysed via a Bayesian meta-regression to estimate prevalence by disorder, sex, age, location, and year. Disorder-specific prevalence was multiplied by disability weights representing the severity of health loss associated with each disorder to estimate years lived with disability (YLDs). Deaths due to anorexia nervosa were assessed with a Cause of Death Ensemble modelling strategy to estimate deaths by sex, age, location, and year, and then multiplied by the standard life expectancy at age of death to estimate years of life lost (YLLs). YLDs equalled disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for all mental disorders except anorexia nervosa (the only mental disorder considered as an underlying cause of death in GBD), for which DALYs represented the sum of YLDs and YLLs. We presented prevalence, deaths, YLDs, YLLs, and DALYs as counts, age-specific rates per 100 000 population, and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population.
Findings
We estimated 1·17 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1·06–1·31) prevalent cases of mental disorders globally in 2023, equivalent to an age-standardised prevalence rate of 14 210·7 cases (12 849·5–15 940·1) per 100 000 population. These estimates represented a 95·5% (75·0–121·2) increase in prevalent cases and 24·2% (11·4–41·4) increase in age-standardised prevalence rate between 1990 and 2023. All mental disorders showed increases in prevalent cases between 1990 and 2023, while notable increases were seen in age-standardised prevalence rates for anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, schizophrenia, and conduct disorder. There were an estimated 171 million (127–228) DALYs due to mental disorders globally across sex and age in 2023, equivalent to an age-standardised DALY rate of 2070·5 DALYs (1519·1–2750·5) per 100 000 population. Mental disorders contributed to 6·1% (4·8–7·6) of all-cause DALYs in 2023, making them the fifth leading cause of global DALYs (up from 12th in 1990). DALYs were almost entirely composed of YLDs. Mental disorders were the leading cause of YLDs in 2023 (up from second in 1990), explaining 17·3% (14·8–20·6) of all-cause global YLDs. Leading causes of mental disorder DALYs were anxiety disorders (ranked 11th among the 304 diseases and injuries at Level 4 of the GBD cause hierarchy), major depressive disorder (15th), and schizophrenia (41st). Globally in 2023, mental disorder age-standardised DALY rates were higher among females (2239·6 [1643·7–3014·1] per 100 000) than among males (1900·2 [1399·8–2510·8] per 100 000), and peaked in the 15–19 years age group (2617·3 [1850·6–3696·8] per 100 000). All locations showed increased mental disorder DALY rates in 2023 compared with 1990, ranging across countries and territories from 1302·4 (952·7–1683·7) per 100 000 in Viet Nam to 3555·8 (2661·9–4715·0) per 100 000 in the Netherlands. Across SDI quintiles, DALY rates ranged from 1853·0 (1352·1–2469·3) per 100 000 for middle SDI to 2184·1 (1606·1–2890·3) per 100 000 for high SDI.
Interpretation
A significant health burden was imposed by mental disorders in all countries and territories in 2023, irrespective of the health resources available. In some instances, this burden has increased over time and is unevenly distributed across populations. Stronger surveillance systems, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, are required. Additionally, we need more coordinated and inclusive policies to reduce the burden through early treatment and prevention, tailored to sex and age differences across locations. Responding to the mental health needs of our global population, especially those most vulnerable, is an obligation, not a choice.
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