Europe plagued with mental health problems

Europe plagued with mental health problems

By Catherine Walker

A large new study has shown that neurological and mental illnesses are plaguing the people of Europe.  Brain disorder such as anxiety, depression, dementia and insomnia are affecting 165 million people in Europe each year.  This represents 38% of the population, a figure far higher than expected.

A three year study was led by Hans Ulrich Wittchen, director of the institute of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at Germany’s Dresden University.   The study covered 30 European countries which include the 27 European Union member states plus Iceland, Switzerland and Norway.  This covers a population of 514 million people.

Mr. Wittchen, lead author, and his team looked at around one hundred illnesses which include all major brain disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to addiction and through to schizophrenia. 

It is believed that only about a third of cases receive the required therapy or medication and as a consequence a huge burden is being placed on the economy and society in general.  This can be measured in hundreds of billions of euros as sufferers become too ill to work and their personal lives and relationships break down.

Wittchen and colleagues noted that ‘Mental disorders have become Europe’s largest health challenge of the 21st century. 

‘The immense treatment gap for mental disorders has to be closed.  Those few receiving treatment do so with considerable delays of an average of several years and rarely with the appropriate, state-of-the-art therapies’ Wittchen said.

The onus to invest in research into how the brain works is being placed on governments and charities as some big drug companies are backing away from the funding of neuroscience.

The results of the study are published by the European College of Neuropsychopharacology (ENCP).  They show an ‘exceedingly high burden’ of mental health disorders, Wittchen told reporters at a briefing in London.

These findings far exceed the results of the last European study of brain disorders.  This previous, smaller study was published in 2005 and covered a population of 301 million European people. It showed that at that time 27% of the EU adult population was affected by mental illness. 

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