International disparity of mental disorders burden: New trends of global mental health disparity

Abstract Background : Mental illness had been a worldwide concern. Global Mental Health (GMH) had become a movement to fight for Global health inequality. In low-income country, adequate and quality mental health infrastructure, mental health services are not provided equitably to people with mental disorders. Methods: We used the data of global burden of 204countries from 1990 to 2019 in Global Burden of Disease database. The Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) due to mental disorders was treated as an indicator of national mental health. In the GBD Results Tool toolkit provided by the Institute of Health Measurement and Evaluation, retrieved and visualized the data in global burden of disease data. In addition, we used correlation analysis to analyze the correlation between the burden of mental illness and the level of national development. Results: It is found that, mental health had been a global issue which showing a gradual upward trend. There is a significant positive and moderate correlation between national development and the burden of mental disorder. The better the national development, the higher the YLDs Rate caused by mental disorders. The burden of mental illness in low-income countries is not high, but the rate of increase is relatively fast, while the burden of mental illness in low- and middle-income countries is relatively high, but the rate of decrease is apparent. Conclusion: The burden of mental disorders in developed countries is relatively high, but it has shown a downward trend. However, although the burden of mental disorders in developing countries is not large, the growth rate is relatively fast. This may be related to mental health policy. It is high time to notice that mental health had been a global issue. Global mental health movement should be done to narrow the gap between different countries, especially in developing countries.