Issues

Mental health awareness

Desteny Aldana-Fierro, staff writer|December 16, 2022

Mental health awareness ribbon

A lot of people struggle with their mental health. Some people find help while others don’t know how to cope with it, which worsens your mindset. Substance users, homeless people, prisoners/offenders, people with learning disabilities, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, non-binary, queer, or LGBTQIA+, are just some examples of people who struggle with mental health issues.

The top three common mental health disorders are:

Anxiety Disorders

Major Depression

Bipolar Depression

According to “This is the world’s biggest mental health problem – and you might not have heard of it” by Sean Fleming, “An estimated 275 million people suffer from anxiety disorders. That’s around 4% of the global population, with a spread of between 2.5% and 6.5% of population per country. Around 62% of those suffering from anxiety are female (170 million), compared with 105 million male sufferers.” This shows that a big percentage of our earth’s population is affected by anxiety disorders.

Major depression is also a serious mental health issue. According to the World Health Organization, or also known as WHO, it states, “Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years (1). Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression.” This is telling us that about 280 million people on earth suffer from depression. This can lead to suicide. In the text, it also states, “At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Over 700 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.”

Lastly, bipolar disorder is a serious issue as well as anxiety disorders and major depression disorders. According to the DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) it states, “Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million adult Americans, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 and older every year.” It doesn’t affect as much of our population as anxiety or major depression do, but it is still a very serious illness.