A recent study found that approximately half of the world’s population can expect to develop mental health problems by the age of 75, Axios reported.
According to the study published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the most prevalent mental health disorders among men are alcohol abuse, depression, and specific phobia, an anxiety that interferes with everyday life. Among women, the most prevalent disorders are depression, specific phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of Queensland analyzed data from World Mental Health surveys conducted by the World Health Organization to determine the age at which mental illness first appeared, how common mental illness was, and the risk by age 75. The surveys, which span more than two decades, include interviews with over 150,000 adults in 29 countries.
In a press release, lead author Professor John McGrath of Queensland’s Brain Institute, mood disorders like major depression and anxiety were the most common mental health disorders found.
According to the study, mental disorders first emerge from childhood to young adulthood. Mental illness peaks at the first onset at age 15. The median age of onset for men is 19, while the median age of onset for women is 20.
The study’s authors call for investments in mental health services for young people and suggest that a better understanding of the age at which mental disorders typically arise, public health interventions and resources can be tailored “to ensure that appropriate and timely support is available.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated one in five American adults suffers from mental illness.
On Thursday, the CDC released provisional data showing that more Americans committed suicide last year than any year since World War Two, the Associated Press reported.
According to the CDC, around 49,500 Americans killed themselves in 2022.
