STEPS

Mental health around the world

• Studies have looked at how common stress is across the world.
• In countries as different as Britain, Brazil, Australia, Canada and Holland, the rates are more or less the same.
• The same problems found in Britain - anxiety, depression and drink problems - are found across the world. As with Britain, women seem more prone to anxiety/depression and men more prone to drink/drug problems.
• The same links to social factors are found.
• It looks as if these problems are becoming more common right across the world.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has carried out careful research over many years on how many people suffer in this way. Their conclusion is that these problems are becoming more common right across the world. The WHO is particularly concerned at the rapid growth in the number of people suffering from depression across the world.
• A recent survey in Australia found that one in five people had a mental health problem when interviewed. The people who did this survey felt that the true figure was probably higher.