Disability and treatment of specific mental and physical disorders across the world.
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.
Ormel
Johan
J
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.
Petukhova
Maria
M
Chatterji
Somnath
S
Aguilar-Gaxiola
Sergio
S
Alonso
Jordi
J
Angermeyer
Matthias C
MC
Bromet
Evelyn J
EJ
Burger
Huibert
H
Demyttenaere
Koen
K
de Girolamo
Giovanni
G
Haro
Josep Maria
JM
Hwang
Irving
I
Karam
Elie
E
Kawakami
Norito
N
Lépine
Jean Pierre
JP
Medina-Mora
María Elena
ME
Posada-Villa
José
J
Sampson
Nancy
N
Scott
Kate
K
Ustün
T Bedirhan
TB
Von Korff
Michael
M
Williams
David R
DR
Zhang
Mingyuan
M
Kessler
Ronald C
RC
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