GBD Study | Mental Health – Alize Ferrari, Part 1

Transcription: We did find an elevated prevalence of major depression disorder and major anxiety disorders of populations after the COVID-19 pandemic. We also found that change was more noticeable in female compared to males, and that younger populations were more impacted than older populations. So what does this all mean? Mental disorders are leading causes of disease burden and they were leading causes of disease burden even before the COVID-19 pandemic began. We found that most populations are not well-equipped at responding to the burden due to mental disorders. Interventions exist for major depressive disorder or anxiety disorder, but the extent to which they are delivered to individuals in the population that need it the most is not very good in most countries, and they're most often not delivered in the duration that would be most impactful and most beneficial. So in an environment where cases due to depression and anxiety have gone up due to COVID-19, we really need to stop and evaluate more broadly what our mental health response is going to be. How should we respond to the burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to mental disorders, but also more generally, the burden due to mental disorder even before the COVID-19 pandemic began.