IT could be you. Your family member. Your friend. Your workmate. One in every seven people you meet has this, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Some of them may seem OK. Smiling and laughing. Going with the flow of life. Living a day at a time. Suffering is internal and not necessarily expressed. But suffering is real. And the impact may be the devastating loss of productivity, and worse, life! The young are most vulnerable. Yet, society doesn’t give it much attention. Ignore. Deny. Neglect.
Pandemic, an overstatement?
Pandemic refers to the worldwide spread of new infectious disease that affects a substantial portion of the population across multiple countries or continents. We were witness to the Covid-19. We will not compare the two conditions, as if they are in competition but just to incite action toward addressing the scale and burden of mental disorders, in the same way we have collectively addressed Covid-19, which we labeled as a pandemic.
In terms of scale, mental disorders are constant, with an estimated 1 billion people living with it at any time. Covid-19 came in waves that even during its peak had only new cases in millions. Mental disorders affect hundreds of millions year after year.
Covid-19 incidence is acute positive infectious — you catch it, recover or not. Mental disorder incidence is about a new diagnosis per year, but many conditions are long term. In 2021, there were 444 million new mental disorders against Covid-19 which had estimated 200 to 400 million new cases reported in the same year.
Mental disorders are the second-biggest cause of long-term disability globally. Covid-19 caused a huge acute mortality and morbidity between 2020 and 2022. The mental disorder burden is continuous and was made worse by the pandemic.
In any given year, new cases of mental disorders globally are in the hundreds of millions, with higher prevalence — more people living with them at once.
Global burden
we may be ignoring
A 2023 global study estimated 1.17 billion prevalent cases of mental disorders. These estimates represented a 95.5-percent increase in prevalent cases and 24.2-percent increase in prevalence rate between 1990 and 2023.
All mental disorders showed increases in prevalent cases between 1990 and 2023, while notable increases were seen in prevalence rates for anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, dysthymia, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, schizophrenia and conduct disorder.
There were an estimated 171 million (127-228) disability-adjusted life year (DALY) due to mental disorders globally across sex and age in 2023. DALY is a standard unit used to measure the overall burden of disease where 1 DALY represents an equivalent one year of full health.
Mental disorders contributed to 6·1 percent of all-cause DALYs in 2023, making them the fifth leading cause of global DALYs (up from 12th in 1990).
Leading causes of mental disorder DALYs were anxiety disorders (ranked 11th), major depressive disorder (15th) and schizophrenia (41st). Globally in 2023, mental disorder DALY rates were higher among females than among males, and peaked in the 15 to 19 years age group.
All locations showed increased mental disorder DALY rates in 2023 compared with 1990, ranging across countries and territories.
Conclusion: Mental illness is now officially the leading cause of disability worldwide. With more than 1 in 7 people globally living with a mental disorder, mental illness has officially become the world’s leading cause of disability.
A comprehensive new analysis published in The Lancet has delivered a sobering milestone: Mental illness is now the primary driver of disability worldwide. Globally, depression and anxiety alone cost the world economy about $1 trillion annually in lost productivity.
The Philippine data
The latest and most reliable estimates suggest that mental illness is a major and growing public health concern in the Philippines, although precise national prevalence figures are still being refined through ongoing epidemiological studies. Approximately 11 to 12 percent of Filipinos live with a mental disorder.
Global Burden of Disease estimates indicate that the prevalence of mental disorders in the Philippines ranged from 11.3 percent to 11.6 percent of the population, increasing steadily from 1990 to 2019. This translates to roughly 12.5 million Filipinos living with a mental disorder by 2019.
Around 3.6 million Filipinos were identified with mental, neurological or substance-use disorders. The Department of Health reported preliminary findings from the National Prevalence Study indicating that at least 3.6 million Filipinos were suffering from mental conditions, although this figure covered only selected disorders and may underestimate the actual burden.
Depression and anxiety are among the most common conditions. According to WHO country estimates for the Philippines, major depressive disorder has approximately 1.1-percent prevalence, affecting about 1.15 million Filipinos. Bipolar disorder has approximately 0.5-percent prevalence, affecting about 520,000 Filipinos. Schizophrenia: approximately 0.2-percent prevalence, affecting about 213,000 Filipinos.
These figures refer to diagnosed severe mental disorders and do not capture many undiagnosed cases of anxiety, depression, trauma-related disorders and psychological distress.
Mental health among Filipinos has worsened in recent years. The 2024-2025 Mental State of the World report found that the Philippines’ mental health quotient declined from 78.44 in 2023 to 68.76 in 2024, indicating worsening overall mental well-being, although the country’s score remained above the global average.
Young people are particularly vulnerable. WHO identifies mental disorders as a leading cause of disability among adolescents globally, and suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among young people. Filipino mental health professionals have reported increasing cases of anxiety, depression, self-harm and stress-related disorders among adolescents and young adults.
Why mental health matters
Mental illness affects far more than emotional well-being. It contributes to increased absenteeism hence reduced workplace productivity. Among students, it leads to poor academic performance. In the greater society, it means higher health care costs. It exacerbates other conditions like substance abuse as well as family, relational and social dysfunction, including legal implications. Worst, mental disorders may lead to suicide and premature mortality.
From worse to worst
In the Philippines, the major challenges include limited spending on mental health; the shortage of psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health workers; and the fact that access to services remains concentrated in urban centers.
Many Filipinos still face stigma and discrimination when seeking help.
Protecting mental well-being in the digital age is therefore not merely a personal responsibility but a global public health imperative.
Mental illness is indeed very complex. Many people suffer in silence. This article is being compassionate and putting a real human face to mental illness. It is a complex disorder or disease that will not go away because people want to force it away. It is not a matter of strength but a measure of health and better science and treatment for all that suffer. Many in generations past covered their mental illness with drugs or alcohol, self-medicating themselves rather than dealing with the stigma of mental illness.
No matter who and where, all should be able to get treatment without stigma or judgment. Until the day we can say suffering and mental anguish is something of the past, only then can we find peace, especially in those who suffer. No judgment.
Mental disorders are real. We have to address it as one humanity the way we learned to address pandemics. It begins with you!
