Half the world to develop mental health disorder
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The reading
A new study has found that more and more people are experiencing mental health problems. Research from the University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School found that half of us will have at least one mental health disorder by the time we are 75. Professor John McGrath, lead author of the study, said the most common issues were mood disorders, such as depression or anxiety. He added that "the risk of certain mental disorders differed by sex". The three most common mental health disorders among women were depression, phobias that make daily life more difficult and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Men suffered most from alcohol abuse, depression, and phobias.
The researchers looked at data from 32 mental health surveys from the WHO. Over 156,000 people in 29 countries answered questions about their lifestyle and mental well-being. The researchers analyzed the questionnaires to find out when mental health problems first started in people. They also assessed the risk of people experiencing 13 mental disorders. These included panic attacks, anxiety, drug abuse and ADHD. An important finding of the study was that for many people, mental health disorders first appeared in childhood or in teenage years. The study concluded that young people needed more help in the "critical parts of their lives". They need services that find and treat their mental health problems.
Sources:
- https://newatlas.com/health-well-being/half-population-predicted-to-develop-mental-health-disorder-by-75/
- https://neurosciencenews.com/mental-health-population-23724/
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-01/half-population-mental-health-disorders-queensland-study/102668734
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