Global Mental Health Statistics: The Hidden Cost of Mental Distress and the Case for Personalized Therapy

Introduction: Why Global Mental Health Statistics Matter

Global mental health statistics reveal an urgent, often overlooked crisis: nearly 1 in 8 people worldwide lives with a mental disorder. Conditions like depression, anxiety, burnout, and unresolved trauma significantly impact quality of life, work productivity, and physical health.

In this blog, we explore the most recent global and national mental health statistics, the long-term effects of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the lasting impact of COVID-19, and the limitations of conventional treatments. Ultimately, we emphasize why personalized approaches, such as clinical hypnotherapy, are gaining relevance, particularly when mainstream methods fall short.

Global Mental Health Statistics: Snapshot

• 970 million people worldwide live with a mental disorder.
• 280 million live with depression, 275 million with anxiety (WHO, Our World in Data).
• Nearly 1 in every 8 people — or close to 12% of the world — lives with a mental health disorder.

• 15% of working-age adults were estimated to have a mental disorder in 2019 (WHO).
• 12 billion working days are lost every year globally to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity (WHO).
• 53% of Dutch young adults (18–25) report psychological symptoms
• People with severe mental health conditions die 10 to 20 years earlier than the general population.
• Only 1 in 3 people with mental illness receive minimally adequate care

Global Differences in Mental Health Rates

Mental disorders range from 10.9% prevalence in the WHO (World Health Organisation) African Region to 15.6% in the WHO Region of the Americas.

Mental disorders are somewhat more common in high-income countries (15.1%) and slightly less common in low-income countries (11.6%).

Factors like age, sex, and geographical location can reveal crucial differences in people’s specific mental health needs. For example, while an estimated 4% of all age groups worldwide lived with anxiety disorders, the rate is around 10% among working-age women in the Americas.

Dutch Mental Health Statistics

The Netherlands – a happy country

• In 2024, the Netherlands was the fifth-happiest country in the world, following Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden (The World Happiness Report 2024).
• The country scores high on such happiness factors as:
  • social support
  • freedom of choice
  • positive emotions
  • willingness to help others
  • very low on inequality

Mental Health in the Netherlands

• Nevertheless, feelings of anxiety and depression have been increasing over the years.
• In 2023, 42% of Dutch residents aged 12+ reported symptoms of anxiety or depression (CBS).
• Among young adults (18–25), the number is even higher, with 53% reporting recent psychological symptoms.
• Over 56% of the population had anxious or depressive feelings.
• The proportion of women experiencing anxiety or depression was 48 percent, while for men it was 37 percent. This difference has remained relatively unchanged since 2014.
• Burnout is a leading cause of work-related absence, with episodes averaging 313 calendar days off and costing employers approximately €19,000 per case (Springer Nature).
• Weight issues in the Netherlands:
  • In the past 40 years, obesity rates in the Netherlands have quadrupled.
  • Over 14% of children and teenagers aged 4 to 18 were overweight in 2024.
  • Among Dutch teens (15–19), 18.7% were overweight and 3% obese in 2019 (Eurostat).
  • Over 50% of adults (18+) were overweight in 2024, which was still the 5th best in the EU.
  • 16% of adults aged 20+ were obese in 2023, up from 5% in the 1980s (CBS/RIVM).
• Dutch residents (15+) consumed 8,5 liters of pure alcohol in 2024, and this was the third lowest in the EU in 2023.
• 1 in 5 of the 15+ population (18%) smoked in 2024.
• 10 suicides per 100.000 population took place in 2023.

Mental Healthcare System in the Netherlands

• In 2023, 10% of GDP was spent on healthcare, which was the sixth-highest in the EU (CBS).
• Almost 110 hours per resident were spent on healthcare in 2023, which is the fourth-highest in the EU.
• In 2014, the Dutch mental healthcare system underwent a reform to introduce a stepped-care model for mental health services. Under this framework (OECD 2023):
  • GPs are the initial point of contact for most patients. Approximately 80 % of primary care facilities are equipped with specialist mental health nurses, who offer diagnostic assessments, short-term treatment, longer-term support and guidance, and therapeutic counseling.
  • The second step of care involves basic mental healthcare provided by psychologists, psychotherapists, social-psychiatric nurses, and nurse specialists.
  • The third level of specialist mental healthcare services consists of treatment from highly specialised professionals, often within a multidisciplinary team operating in mental healthcare institutions.
• Mental healthcare accessibility remains an issue, with over 84,000 people on waitlists as of late 2022.
  • Over 60 % of patients referred to specialist mental healthcare waited more than the four-week threshold for an initial consultation
  • 30 % waited longer than the 10-week maximum for receiving treatment.

Gender-Based Differences in Mental Health

• Depressive and anxiety disorders are about 50% more common among women than men throughout the life course.
• Women are 1.66 times more likely to be affected by anxiety disorders than men.
• Men are more likely to have a substance use disorder.
• As depressive and anxiety disorders account for most cases of mental disorder, overall, slightly more women (13.5% or 508 million) than men (12.5% or 462 million) live with a mental disorder.
• Worldwide, more than 10% of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression (Woody et al, 2017).
• Females are less often current drinkers than males, and when women drink, they drink less than men (WHO 2024).
• The prevalence of each level of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is slightly higher in females, with zero ACEs reported 10% less often in women.
• Sexual abuse occurs 2.6 times more often in females.
• Men are 2 times more likely to commit suicide.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Impact

• The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are 10 types of events experienced before the age of 18 (Wikipedia):
  • Sexual abuse
  • Physical abuse
  • Emotional abuse
  • Physical neglect
  • Emotional neglect
  • Mental illness of a family member
  • Witnessing substance abuse
  • Incarcerated family member
  • Parental separation
  • Witnessing domestic violence.
• Globally, over 60% of adults report at least one ACE, and 16% report four or more, according to a meta-analysis study that included, in total, 206 studies from 22 countries, with 546,458 adult participants (Madigan et al, 2023).
• Four or more ACEs prevail in racial/ethnic minority groups: 
  • 12.1% for white persons
  • 21.5% for black
  • 25.6% latinx
  • 40.8% for Indigenous/Native American
• ACEs are linked to dramatically higher risks of depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, and chronic physical illnesses (CDC/ACE Study).
• The prevalence of four or more ACEs is higher in populations with
  • a history of a mental health condition (47.5%)
  • substance abuse or addiction (55.2% vs 16,1% in the general population)
  • individuals from low‐income households (40.5%)
  • unhoused individuals (59.7%). 
• Individuals with six or more ACEs die nearly 20 years earlier on average (Brown et al, 2009).
• The prevalence of each level of ACE (number of experienced ACEs) is slightly higher in females, so that the portion with zero ACEs is 10% lower in women:
  • 35% in females
  • 45% in males
• Men and women show similar prevalences for each type of ACEs, except for sexual abuse, which happens 2,6 times more often for women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009):
  • 17.2% for women
  • 6.7% for men

Behind each number is a person navigating life with fear, sadness, or isolation—often without adequate help.

Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

• Around 8% or 1 in 13 of the world’s young children (aged 5–9 years) live with a mental disorder.
• Autism affects 1 in 200 children aged under five years.
• Globally, 1 in 7 (15%) 10-19-year-olds experience a mental disorder (WHO 2021).
• 4.4% of 10–14-year-olds and 5.5% of 15–19-year-olds experience an anxiety disorder.
• Depression is estimated to occur among 1.4% of adolescents aged 10–14 years and 3.5% of 15–19-year-olds. 
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), characterized by difficulty paying attention and/or excessive activity and acting without regard to consequences, occurs among 2.9% of 10–14-year-olds and 2.2% of 15–19-year-olds.
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorders are prevalent in adolescence, especially among younger boys (4.5% in boys 10–14 years of age).
• Conduct disorder (involving symptoms of destructive or challenging behaviour) occurs among 3.5% of 10–14-year-olds and 1.9% of 15–19-year-olds.
• Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, occur in an estimated 0.1% of 10–14-year-olds and 0.4% of 15–19-year-olds.
  • Three million children and adolescents experienced eating disorders in 2019.
• In 2019, the prevalence of alcohol use among 15–19-year-olds was high worldwide (22%) (WHO 2024):
  • with minimal gender differences and
  • a tendency to increase from initially low levels in some regions.
• Most adult smokers had their first cigarette before the age of 18 years.  
• In 2022, the prevalence of cannabis use among adolescents was higher than that of adults globally (5.5 per cent compared with 4.4 per cent, respectively).
• Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in older adolescents and young adults (15–19 years) (WHO 2025).
  • Suicide was the second leading cause of death in girls (after maternal conditions) and the fourth leading cause of death in males in this age group.
• Interpersonal violence was ranked among the leading causes of death of older adolescents in 2021.
• Anxiety and eating disorders are more common among female adolescents.
• 50% of the mental disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, conduct-dissocial and substance abuse disorders, present in adulthood had developed by the age of 14 years, and 75% appeared by the age of 24 years (Kessler et al, 2005).
• 27.7% of adults had two or more lifetime disorders.
• 17.3% had three or more.

Mental Health of the Elderly

• The world’s population is ageing fast. In 2020, approximately 1 billion people worldwide were aged 60 years or older (WHO Fact Sheets).
• That figure is expected to rise to 1.4 billion by 2030, representing approximately 1 in 6 people globally.
• By 2050, the number of people aged 60 years and older is expected to double, reaching 2.1 billion.
• The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050, reaching 426 million.
• Around 14% of adults aged 60 and over live with a mental disorder, 10.6% of the total disability (in disability adjusted life years, DALYs) among older adults.
• 14.2% of women and 11.7% of men aged over 70 years are estimated to have a mental disorder.
• 6.9% of adults aged 65 years and over live with dementia (WHO).
• Loneliness and social isolation are key risk factors for mental health conditions in later life (Hong et al, 2023).
• 1 in 6 older adults experiences abuse (Yon et al, 2017).

Anxiety, Depression, and Other Mental Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety disorders are the world’s most common mental disorders (WHO Fact Sheets).
• There are several different kinds of anxiety disorders, such as:
  • generalised anxiety disorder (characterised by excessive worry)
  • panic disorder (characterised by panic attacks)
  • social anxiety disorder (characterised by excessive fear and worry in social situations)
  • separation anxiety disorder (characterised by excessive fear or anxiety about separation from those individuals to whom the person has a deep emotional bond) and others.
• An estimated 4% of the global population currently experiences an anxiety disorder. In 2019, 301 million people were living with an anxiety disorder, including 58 million children and adolescents (WHO).

Source: IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data

• Anxiety disorders are most prevalent in Portugal, Brazil, Iran, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, with rates reaching 7–9% (Javaid et at, 2023).
• Women are 1.66 times more likely to be affected by anxiety disorders than men.
• High-income countries have significantly higher levels of anxiety disorders (8,0% for women and 4,3% for men in 2021) than in upper-middle (6,1% and 3,5%, respectively) or lower-middle income countries (4,8% and 3,1%, respectively).

Depression

• An estimated 3.8% of the population experiences depression. Approximately 280 million people in the world had depression in 2019, including 23 million children and adolescents (WHO Fact Sheets).

Source: IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data

• Depression rates grow with age: 5% in adults, and 5.7% in adults older than 60 years.
• Depression is about 50% more common among women than among men: 4% among men and 6% among women.
• Worldwide, more than 10% of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression (Woody et al, 2017).
• Countries with the highest reported rates of depression include Greenland, Greece, Tunisia, and Portugal, with prevalence reaching up to 8% of the population (World Population Review 2025).
• Countries with the lowest reported rates include Brunei, Singapore, Mali, and Tonga — often due to limited mental health infrastructure, stigma, or underreporting rather than absence of psychological distress.
• Highest depression rates are in low-income countries (5.7% in women and 4.3% in men) compared to high-income (4.7% and 2.9%, respectively), lower-middle (4.4% and 3.2%, respectively), or upper-middle income countries (3.9% and 2.4%, respectively).
• More than 75% of people in low- and middle-income countries receive no treatment (Evans-Lacko, 2018).

Other Mental Health Conditions

• In 2019, approximately 1 in 150 adults (40 million people, or 0.53% of the global population) were living with bipolar disorder (WHO Fact Sheets, The Lancet Psychiatry 2019).
  • The condition is primarily observed among working-age individuals, but also in young people.
  • The prevalence of bipolar disorder among men and women is approximately equal, but women are more often diagnosed.
  • On average, people with bipolar disorder die more than 10 years earlier than the general population (Kwun Nam Chan et al, 2022).
• The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental disorders is high in conflict-affected settings.
• Schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people, or 1 in 300 people (0.32%), worldwide. This rate is 1 in 222 people (0.45%) among adults.
  • People with schizophrenia have a life expectancy 10-20 years below that of the general population.
• In 2019, 14 million people experienced eating disorders, including almost 3 million children and adolescents.
• 40 million people, including children and adolescents, were living with conduct-dissocial disorder in 2019.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders include disorders of intellectual development, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), among others.

Obesity and Mental Health: A Growing Global Challenge

• In 2022, 1 in 8 people worldwide lived with obesity (WHO 2025).
• 43% of all adults (43% of men and 44% of women) were overweight, compared to 25% in 1990.
• 16% of all adults were obese. The prevalence of obesity more than doubled between 1990 and 2022.
• 20% children and adolescents aged 5–19 were overweight (including obesity). In other words, 1 in 5 children and adolescents was overweight. In 1990, these were just 8%.
• 8% of children and adolescents were living with obesity, compared to 2% in 1990.

Obesity increases the risk of depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and chronic stress.

IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data

• In 2021, the highest rates of eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia) were significantly higher in high-income countries (0,7% in women and 0,3% in men), compared to upper-middle and lower-middle (0,2% and 0,1%, respectively), or low-income countries (0,1% and less than 0,1%, respectively).
• By far the highest rates of eating disorders were in Australia (1,4% in women and 0,8% in men) and Monaco (1,3% and 0,5%, respectively).

Addressing weight without addressing the psychological root causes—such as emotional eating, trauma, or self-worth—often leads to short-term results.

This is why trauma-informed and mindset-based approaches like hypnotherapy are becoming essential tools in sustainable weight management.

Suicides

• The global age-standardized suicide rate was 8.9 per 100’000 population for 2021 (WHO 2025).
• In 2021, an estimated 727’000 people died by suicide (WHO Fact Sheets).
• Suicide accounts for more than one in every 100 deaths globally (WHO 2022).
• For every death by suicide, there are more than 20 suicide attempts (WHO 2014).
• Rates varied between countries from fewer than one death by suicide per 100’000 to almost 40 per 100’000.
• Among the high-income countries, the highest suicide rates are at 10.9 per 100’000.
• Suicide occurs throughout the lifespan and was the third leading cause of death among 15–29-year-olds globally in 2021.
  • Suicide was the third leading cause of death in young people aged 15–29 years for both sexes, after road injury and interpersonal violence.
  • For females, suicide was the second leading cause of death in this age group, following maternal conditions.
• The global age-standardized suicide rate was 2 times higher in males than in females (12.3 per 100’000 and 5.6 per 100’000, respectively, in 2021).

Burnout Statistics in the Netherlands

• A Dutch longitudinal study tracking over 3,400 cases of mental-health-related sick leave shows (Wolvetang et al, 2022):
  • Stress-related sick leave in the Netherlands lasts on average 202 calendar days (about 101 working days), costing employers approximately €18,469 per case.
  • Burnout, when diagnosed as such, lasts even longer: 313 calendar days (approx. 163 working days), with an average employer cost of €30,770.
• Long-term recovery is uncertain: studies show that 25–50% of individuals with clinical burnout are not fully recovered even 2 to 4 years later (Dalgaard et al, 2021, van Dam, 2012).
  • Many continue to struggle with persistent fatigue, cognitive issues, and low motivation—creating not just individual suffering but also long-term hidden costs for workplaces (van Dam, 2021).

The cost of untreated burnout isn’t just financial—it’s human potential lost.

Alcohol and substance abuse worldwide

Global Alcohol Consumption Statistics

• Worldwide in 2019, more than half (56%) of the global population aged 15 years and over had abstained from drinking alcohol. The numbers of drinkers and abstainers in the world are relatively stable over time (WHO 2024).
• Total alcohol per capita consumption in the global population remained almost unchanged: 5.7 litres in 2010 and 5.5 litres in 2019.
  • The highest levels of per capita consumption in 2019 remain in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres).

• In the WHO European region and Americas, the most consumed types of beverages of total recorded alcohol are:
  • beer (40.0% and 53,8%, respectively)
  • wine (30,8% and 13,8%)
  • spirits (27,5% and 31,5%)

• Prevalence rates of current drinking are highest among 15–19-year-olds in:
  • the WHO European Region (43.8%)
  • the Region of the Americas (38.2%)
  • the Western Pacific Region (37.9%).
• In 2019, 17% of people aged 15+ years and 38% of current drinkers engaged in heavy episodic drinking or “binge drinking” (consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the last month), while continuous heavy drinking was highly prevalent (6.7%) among men.
• There are significant gender differences in alcohol consumption and its consequences:
  • In 2019, 52% of men were current drinkers, while only 35% of women had been drinking alcohol in the last 12 months.
  • Alcohol per capita consumption was, on average, 8.2 litres for men compared to 2.2 litres for women.
  • In 2019, alcohol use was responsible for 6.7% of all deaths among men and 2.4% of all deaths among women. 
  • The highest prevalence of alcohol use disorders is among men and women in the European Region (14.8% and 3.5%) and the Americas region (11.5% and 5.1%).
• The economic wealth of countries is associated with higher alcohol consumption and higher prevalence of current drinkers.
  • In 2019, the drinking population by World Bank income groups of countries was:
    • 25% in the low income
    • 26% in the lower middle income
    • 55% in the upper middle income
    • 70% in the high income
  • In 2023, the adult alcohol consumption per capita in liters a year was (Rehm et al, 2024):
  • 2,9L in the low income
  • 3,7L in the lower middle income
  • 6,1L in the upper middle income
  • 9,2L in the high income
• The total alcohol per capita consumption (APC) has decreased substantially in Europe and increased markedly in South-East Asia since 2000.
• Unrecorded alcohol consumption accounted for 21% of overall consumption worldwide.

The wealthier a country or region, the lower the proportion of unrecorded consumption.

Health Consequences of Alcohol Consumption

• Based on scientific evidence, alcohol consumption can impact the development, occurrence, and outcomes of 31 health conditions (WHO 2024).
• Worldwide, 2.6 million deaths were attributable to alcohol consumption in 2019, representing 4.7% of all deaths in that year.
  • Mortality resulting from alcohol consumption is higher than that caused by diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes (WHO 2018).
  • Deaths attributable to alcohol consumption worldwide were
    • 27,5% due to intentional injuries and accidents
    • 22,0% due to digestive diseases
    • 17,8% due to cardiovascular diseases
    • 15,3% due to cancers
    • 10,8% due to infectious diseases.
  • The highest levels of alcohol-attributable deaths per 100’000 persons are observed in the WHO African and European regions.
• The alcohol-attributable disease burden is heaviest among males: 2 million alcohol-attributable deaths and 6.9% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) among males and 0.6 million deaths and 2.0% of all DALYs among females in 2019.
• Globally, an estimated 400 million people, or 7% of the world’s population aged 15 years and older, live with alcohol use disorders, and an estimated 209 million (3.7% of the adult world population) live with alcohol dependence. Substantial differences in the numbers of people affected are in different WHO regions.
• A decreasing trend in the prevalence of alcohol use disorders is observed worldwide since 2010, driven by decreases in the regions of Europe and the Western Pacific.
• Death rates and DALY rates from alcohol consumption per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries, followed by lower-middle-income countries, and are lowest in high-income countries.
• The years of healthy life lost due to ill-health or disability from alcohol consumption (per litre of alcohol consumed) is highest in high-income countries.

Younger people were disproportionately affected by alcohol compared to older persons, and 13.5% of all deaths among those who are 20–39 years of age are attributed to alcohol.

• From 2010 to 2019, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol per 100’000 people decreased by 20.2% – greater than the overall decrease in total deaths worldwide for the same period of time (14.8%)
• Similarly, a decrease in the number of alcohol-attributable DALYs lost within the same period (18.3%) was larger than the observed decrease in all-cause DALYs lost (14.0%).

Alcohol and injury-related deaths

• Globally, an estimated 0.9 million injury deaths were attributable to alcohol, including:
  • 370000 deaths due to road injuries
  • 150000 due to self-harm,
  • 90000 due to interpersonal violence.
• Of the road traffic injuries, 187000 alcohol-attributable deaths were among passengers in the car.

Substance Abuse in Europe

• Cigarette smoking has decreased markedly over the past decades, with lifetime prevalence halving between 1995 and 2024 (EU: European Drug Report 2025).
• E-cigarette use has risen sharply among adolescents, with increasing rates of early initiation and daily consumption.
• Alcohol consumption has also declined over time, with overall use and binge drinking decreasing. Despite this progress, alcohol remains widely accessible, and early initiation and heavy episodic drinking remain significant concerns.

Around 1.5 % of adults in the European Union (4.3 million people) are estimated to be daily or almost daily cannabis consumers, and these people are most likely to experience problems from using cannabis.

• Cannabis lifetime use prevalence has declined to its lowest level since 1995. Overall, current use (defined as within the past 30 days) among EU students has decreased to 5.7%, reflecting a long-term trend decline.
• The potency of cannabis herb quadrupled between 1995 and 2019 (UN: World Drug Report 2021).
• The potency of cannabis resin remains very high by historical standards, with the average sample now containing 23 % THC, while the average potency of herb remains at 11 % THC.
• Even greater health risk implications for consumers are posed by high potency and cannabis-based products adulterated with potent synthetic cannabinoids, which have been linked to acute drug-toxicity presentations in hospital emergency departments.

Cocaine remains, after cannabis, the second most commonly used illicit drug in Europe.

• 2.7 million young adults (2.7 % of those aged 15 to 34) reported its use in 2024.
• Cocaine is the most frequently reported substance in acute drug-toxicity presentations to sentinel hospital emergency departments.
• Cocaine, usually in the presence of opioids, was involved in about a 1/4 of drug overdose deaths in 2023.

In 2024, 14 % of those who had used drugs within the last 12 months reported having used ketamine, mainly in the context of polysubstance use with other drugs and alcohol.

Ketamine has been linked to various dose-dependent acute and chronic harms, including:

• neurological and cardiovascular toxicity
• mental health problems, such as depression
• urological complications, such as bladder damage from intensive use or the presence of adulterants.

Environmental damage is strongly linked to the production of synthetic drugs, in particular, the dumping of toxic chemical waste.

The environmental impact of MDMA production in Europe is significant:

• with each kilogram of MDMA generating approximately 58 kilograms of toxic waste.
• Overall, MDMA production in the European Union potentially generates between 1000 and 3000 tonnes of chemical waste each year.

Production sites are also prone to accidents, explosions, and fires due to the presence of volatile chemicals.

Polysubstance use is linked to most opioid-related deaths.

• An estimated 7500 drug-related deaths were reported in the European Union in 2023, giving a mortality rate of 24.7 deaths per million population aged 15 to 64.

COVID-19’s Lasting Impact on Children and Adults

Children:

• In Dutch and international studies, peer relationships and mental well-being of children plummeted during lockdowns. Especially, the levels of internalizing disorders, like anxiety, depression remained high even in 2023 and have not returned to the pre‐pandemic levels of mental health (van Oers et al, 2023, Deng et al, 2022).
• Children lagged in education due to school closures. Learning setbacks were most severe among children from lower-income, less-educated fparents, or families with migration background (Haelemans et al, 2022).
  • The contributing factors were:
    • lack of access to technology and additional online learning materials
    • inability to afford additional help for their children during their time at home.

Adults:

• In 2020, the number of people living with anxiety and depressive disorders rose by 25% because of the COVID-19 pandemic (WHO 2022). 
• Long COVID is linked to persistent symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, anxiety and depression in people without prior diagnoses (RIVM).
• In the U.S., over 40% of adults reported pandemic-related psychological distress (Pew Research).

Barriers to Mental Health Treatment

Mental Illness Stigma & Help-Seeking Barriers

Workplace stigma in the Netherlands

• Nearly half of Dutch adults (48%) report having experienced a mental health issue in their lives; yet, stigma is common in professional settings (Beukering et al, 2023).
  • 42% of Dutch workers did not want to have a close colleague with a mental health issue
  • 64% did not want to work for a higher-ranking manager who had a mental health issue
  • paradoxically, 93% did not have negative experiences with interacting with coworkers with a mental health issue
• 64% of the Dutch line managers were reluctant to hire a job applicant with a mental health problem, although
  • only 7% had negative personal experiences
  • 52% had positive personal experiences with such employees.
  • 30% were reluctant to hire an applicant if they knew the applicant had a past mental health problem.
  • 75% of employees would disclose a mental health problem at work (Janssens et al, 2021).
• 82% of workers expected predominantly positive outcomes of workplace mental illness disclosure (like being one’s authentic self).
  They simultaneously expected disclosure to lead to advancement-related discrimination, like
  • lower chances of contract renewal, 68.4%
  • getting a promotion, 57% (Beukering et al, 2022). 

Help-seeking stigma in youth and clinical populations

Among the Dutch secondary school students, perceived stigma is low (Beukema, 2023):

• 90% of the students reported willingness to talk about their psychological problems:
  • 74% to their parents
  • 51% to their friends
  • 30% to their teacher or mentor
• Among the adolescents who did not use support in school, 44% had a heightened or abnormal level of psychosocial problems.
• Of the adolescents who did use support, 51% had a heightened or abnormal level of psychosocial problems.
• A European study found that about 30–37% of people with diagnosable anxiety or mood disorders reported experiencing stigma or discrimination, sometimes leading to social withdrawal and reluctance to seek care (Antunes et al, 2022).

Gaps in Mental Health Care

• Health systems are significantly under-resourced.
  • For example, the proportion of those receiving minimally adequate treatment for major depressive disorder (the combination of treatment strategies established by research to be minimally sufficient in treating those with depression) ranged from 22.4% in high-income countries to 3.7% in lower-middle-income countries (Thornicroft et al, 2017).
• Only about 1 in 4 people with an anxiety disorder (27.6%) receive any treatment (Alonso et al, 2018).
• Barriers to care include:
  • lack of awareness
  • lack of investment in mental health services
  • lack of trained health care providers
  • social stigma.

Conclusion: Mental Health Deserves More Than Survival

The statistics shared in this blog reflect a sobering truth—mental distress affects millions across all age groups, nations, and backgrounds. But these numbers don’t tell the whole story. Behind each data point is a person navigating life with anxiety, depression, trauma, or burnout—often without adequate support.

While mainstream treatments help many, far too often, they fall short in delivering sustainable, deep healing. That’s why personalized therapy matters.

At New Empowered You, I offer a 5-session clinical hypnotherapy program designed to address the root causes, not just the symptoms. This structured approach helps clients resolve deep-seated patterns, build emotional resilience, and experience meaningful change.

If you’ve tried conventional methods but still feel stuck, there is another way forward.

Explore the 5-session program here or book a discovery call to see how I can support your journey to lasting mental wellness.

FAQ: Global Mental Health

Olga Willemsen, Ph.D., is a certified hypnotherapist in The Hague helping clients overcome anxiety, burnout, and emotional eating through deep subconscious work.

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