title: Disability and treatment of specific mental and physical disorders across the world.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Advocates of expanded mental health treatment assert that mental disorders are as disabling as physical disorders, but little evidence supports this assertion.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish the disability and treatment of specific mental and physical disorders in high-income and low- and middle-income countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community epidemiological surveys were administered in 15 countries through the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respondents in both high-income and low- and middle-income countries attributed higher disability to mental disorders than to the commonly occurring physical disorders included in the surveys. This pattern held for all disorders and also for treated disorders. Disaggregation showed that the higher disability of mental than physical disorders was limited to disability in social and personal role functioning, whereas disability in productive role functioning was generally comparable for mental and physical disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite often higher disability, mental disorders are under-treated compared with physical disorders in both high-income and in low- and middle-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, and Graduate School of Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences & Graduate School for Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ormel
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petukhova
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterji
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Gaxiola
authors.forename: Jordi
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authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Matthias C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Angermeyer
authors.forename: Evelyn J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Bromet
authors.forename: Huibert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: Koen
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authors.lastname: Demyttenaere
authors.forename: Giovanni
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authors.lastname: de Girolamo
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.forename: Irving
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Elie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karam
authors.forename: Norito
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authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Jean Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lépine
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Medina-Mora
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Posada-Villa
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: T Bedirhan
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ustün
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Von Korff
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Mingyuan
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authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kessler
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D014943:Global Health; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy