One in four people have or will have a mental health problem in their lifetime. 9% of the population has some type of mental health problem and 25% will have it at some point in their lives, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Are figures from the Confederation of Mental Health Spain on the mental health of Spaniards in recent years.
As the WHO points out in its latest reports, after the Covid-19 pandemic, Mental health around the world has been negatively affected. In 2019, almost one billion people, including 14% of the world’s adolescents, were living with a mental disorder, suicide accounted for more than 1 in 100 deaths and in the 58% of them occurred before the age of 50. Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability and people who suffer from it have about 10 or 20 years less life expectancy than the healthy population.
“It is a fundamental part of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world in which we live. Mental health is also a fundamental human right. And an essential element for personal, community and socioeconomic development”, This is how the WHO explains the need to take care of mental health.
In 2019, almost one billion people, including 14% of the world’s adolescents, were living with a mental disorder according to the WHO.
It is the mere absence of mental disorders. But, What do we qualify as a mental disorder? “characterized by a clinically significant disturbance of an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior.” These are the more frequent:
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Anxiety. According to the data handled by the WHO, in 2019, more than 300 million people were affected by an anxiety disorder. Of these, at least 50 million were children and adolescents. This disorder is characterized by feeling excessive fear and concern in certain situations.
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Depression. As with the previous one, in 2019, almost 280 million people were diagnosed with this disorder that affected their mood and emotions. The person who suffers from it is usually sad, irritable and with a feeling of emptiness.
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Bipolar disorder. It is another of the most frequent disorders. 40 million people suffered from this disorder in 2019. Among the most common symptoms are mood swings that can include a state of euphoria and irritability in a short period of time.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder. This disorder can develop after exposure to an extremely threatening or horrifying event or series of events.
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Eating behavior disorder. In 2019, 14 million people suffered from eating disorders, of which almost 3 million were children and adolescents. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are characterized by disturbed eating and preoccupation with food, as well as marked problems with body weight and shape.
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Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects about 24 million people, that is, one in 300 people. Those with schizophrenia have a life expectancy 10 to 20 years below that of the general population