– Globally, mental health disorders have nearly doubled since 1990, with new research finding almost 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with a mental health condition.The surge over the last three decades means mental health disorders now account for more than 17 per cent of all disability worldwide, according to a report published this week.

The peer-reviewed study by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and the University of Queensland has been published in medical journal The Lancet.In 1990, there were an estimated 599 million cases of mental health disorders globally. Thirty-three years later, in 2023, there were an estimated 1.17 billion 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 182 million in 1990 to 470 million in 2023, an increase of more than 47 per cent after accounting for population growth.Major depressive disorders increased by 24 per cent, from 102 million cases in 1990 to 236 million cases in 2023 The report’s lead author, Dr Damian Santomauro, is an associate professor at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and an affiliate assistant professor at IHME.

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