While awareness around the topic of mental health has improved significantly in recent years, the World Health Organization states that there is still some way to go in terms of societal attitudes and governmental policies. This includes recognizing that mental health overlaps with multiple aspects of life, including education, employment, housing, and social participation and that more work needs to be done to continue to destigmatize mental health issues as well as to further improve access to mental health services and facilities for all.
The following chart looks at how widespread mental health issues are around the world. According to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights, 44 percent of the respondents interviewed in Sweden reported having experienced mental health problems such as depression, stress or anxiety in the twelve months prior to the poll. The share was comparatively lower in countries such as India, France, Italy and China. However, with this data alone it is hard to tell to what extent these figures are reflective of the mental health prevalence in various countries or the degree to which there is social acceptance and discourse around the topic.
According to the UN, millions of people worldwide are suffering due to mental health issues and it is estimated that one in four will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime.
