Worldwide, Many Are
Mentally Ill, but Few Treated
Excerpt By Alison McCook, Reuters Health

Up to 29 percent of people living in the U.S. and other parts of the developed world are mentally ill, many of whom seriously so, new research show. However, between one- and two-thirds of people diagnosed with a serious form of mental illness are not getting treatment for their disorder, the authors note.

The findings are based on interviews conducted with more than 23,000 residents of Canada, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.

People were diagnosed with a mental illness based on their responses to questions contained in the interview, designed by the World Health Organization.

The rate of mental illness ranged from 17 percent in Chile to 29 percent in the U.S.

'Nobody every expected to see numbers this big,' study author Dr. Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts told Reuters Health.

Although most of the mentally ill appeared to have a mild or moderate case, Kessler estimated that between three and eight percent of the population in these countries 'has a really serious disorder.'

Serious forms of mental illness would include people who are so depressed they have devised a plan to commit suicide, he said, or so anxious that their career choices have been strongly influenced by their fears.

Despite the debilitating nature of mental illness, between one-third and two-thirds of people with a serious case of mental illness said they received no professional treatment during the past year, according to the report, published this week in the journal Health Affairs.

In terms of why people don't often seek out help for serious mental illness, Kessler said that, in many cases, the condition may consist of severe forms of emotions that most people face, and some people with an illness may be unable to distinguish between what they are feeling and what are normal concerns.

Furthermore, those who have been dealing with the problem since their youth may simply get used to it, he said, and no longer see it as a problem needing treatment. If they were overly frightened as a child, for instance, they would not be surprised to carry those feelings into adulthood. 'That's just life,' he said.

Some people may also be embarrassed to seek help, or may not have access to the treatment they need, Kessler added.

People were least likely to receive treatment in the U.S., where only one-third of seriously mentally ill patients are being treated for their conditions.

Kessler said that the U.S. is the one country included in the study that did not have a system of universal health care, and being in treatment depended more strongly on resources than need in America than in other countries.

For instance, a middle-class person with a mild form of mental illness is more likely to be treated in the U.S. than a poor person with a severe form of illness, Kessler said. 'In America, severity is not as important as resources,' he noted. 'And that's not the way things should be.'

Kessler added that it is in the nation's best interest to help people with mental illness, for untreated mental illness will affect many aspects of people's lives, including their productivity in the workplace. 'We just can't afford, as a society, to waste this much human capital,' he said. 'Something has to change.'

SOURCE: Health Affairs 2003.

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