Addressing Widespread Mental Health Disorders

World Mental Health Day, observed annually on October 10, is a global campaign designed to spotlight mental health issues and inspire collective action to improve access to care. It offers a crucial moment for governments, health professionals, advocates, and communities to showcase progress, identify gaps, and call for stronger commitments to ensure mental health support is available for everyone. The urgency is because mental health conditions remain widespread and under-treated, creating significant health, social, and economic burdens.

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In the WHO South-East Asia Region alone, more than 289 million people live with mental, neurological, or substance use disorders, and close to 208,000 lives are lost to suicide each year. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, migraines, autism, and dementia are among the leading causes of disability, affecting both adults and children. Across the broader Asia-Pacific, one in five adults in countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand experience a diagnosable mental health condition annually. Beyond the human toll, the economic impact is striking: mental illness is responsible for over 20 per cent of years lived with disability and nearly 9 per cent of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). In high-income countries such as Australia and New Zealand, untreated mental health conditions cost economies up to 5 per cent of GDP.