More than 1 billion people are living with mental health disorders, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), with conditions such as anxiety and depression inflicting immense human and economic tolls.
Anxiety disorders, like other mental health conditions, result from a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors. Anyone can have an anxiety disorder, but people who have lived through abuse, severe losses or other adverse experiences are more likely to develop one.
WHO’s Mental Health Atlas is a periodic survey and report of countries’ mental health policies and programmes, laws, information systems, financing, workforce and services.
The document is an opening commentary authored by Dévora Kestel, Director of the Department of Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use at the World Health Organisation. It discusses the prominence of mental health in the preparations for the upcoming UN General Assembly high-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in September 2025.
Mental health and NCDs: A shared but differentiated agenda for the 2025 ...
Over a billion people living with mental health conditions – services ...
Leaders from across the world at the Eightieth United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) have adopted the political declaration to combat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health challenges through a fully integrated approach. This is the outcome of the intergovernmental negotiations in advance of and considered by the fourth high-level meeting of the UNGA on the prevention and control ...
World Mental Health Day,10 October 2025 Mental health in humanitarian emergencies World Mental Health Day serves as a powerful reminder that there is no health without mental health. This year’s campaign focuses on the urgent need to support the mental health and psychosocial needs of people affected by humanitarian emergencies. Crises such as natural disasters, conflicts, and public health ...