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The numbers behind global mental health and its different disorders

Al Jazeera · · 998 words · By Hanna Duggal
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/21/the-numbers-behind-global-mental-health…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

23 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 13
check_circle Corroborated 4
help Insufficient Evidence 2
cancel Disputed 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
verified Verified 1
info Single Source 1
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“Nearly one in eight people in the world lives with a mental disorder”
DISPUTED
One source states 'Nearly 1 in 7 people in the world live with a mental disorder', while another source (Al Jazeera) states 'roughly one in eight'. These are contradictory ratios (approx 14% vs 12.5%).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal started in 2009 when representatives of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores received a large number of clay bullae and tablets originating in the ancient Near East.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_Lobby_smuggling_scandal
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In mathematics, particularly in mathematical analysis and measure theory, an approximately continuous function is a concept that generalizes the notion of continuous functions by replacing the ordinar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximately_continuous_funct…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An approximation is anything that is intentionally similar but not exactly equal to something else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximation
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“one person dies by suicide every 43 seconds”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of dictionary definitions of 'global' and Wikipedia entries for the number 43 and the movie '43'. No evidence regarding suicide rates was found.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 43 may refer to: 43 (number), the natural number following 42 and preceding 44 one of the years 43 BC, AD 43, 1943, 2043 Licor 43, also known as "Cuarenta Y Tres" ("Forty-three" in Spanish) George W…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/43
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Movie 43 is a 2013 American sketch comedy film conceived by producer Charles B. Wessler. Featuring fourteen different storylines, each by a different director, including Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_43
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — WrestleMania 43, also promoted as WrestleMania Riyadh (Arabic: ريسلمانيا, romanized: rislmanya), is an upcoming 2027 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WrestleMania_43
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening in Geneva, Switzerland this week for the 79th World Health Assembly”
VERIFIED
A web search result explicitly confirms that the Seventy-ninth session of the World Health Assembly (WHA79) opened in Geneva, Switzerland.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Health_Regulatio…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 193 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is compose…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Assembly
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“More than one billion people – roughly one in eight people globally – are currently living with a mental health condition, according to the WHO”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Al Jazeera and other web results) confirm that more than one billion people (roughly one in eight) are living with a mental health condition according to the WHO.
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web search NEUTRAL — More than 1 billion people are living with mental health disorders, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO), with conditions such as anxiety and depression inflicting imm…
https://www.who.int/news/item/02-09-2025-over-a-billion-peop…
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web search NEUTRAL — More than one billion people – roughly one in eight people globally – are currently living with a mental health condition, according to the WHO. And that number is rising.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/21/the-numbers-behind-…
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web search NEUTRAL — More than 1 billion people globally are currently living with a mental health condition, according to the latest 2025 data from the World Health Organization. That’s roughly 1 in 7 people worldwide. A…
https://www.forbes.com.au/news/leadership/the-hidden-mental-…
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“median government spending globally on mental health is just two percent of health budgets, according to the WHO”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources confirm that median government spending on mental health is 2% of total health budgets, unchanged since 2017.
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web search NEUTRAL — Spending on mental health ranges from $0.04 per capita in low-income countries to $0.34 per capita in lower-middle income countries and $65.89 in high-income countries, according to the WHO Mental Hea…
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/21/the-numbers-behind-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Median government spending on mental health remains at just 2% of total health budgets – unchanged since 2017.The global median number of mental health workers stands at 13 per 100 000 people, with ex…
https://www.who.int/news/item/02-09-2025-over-a-billion-peop…
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web search NEUTRAL — Median government spending on mental health remains at just 2 percent of total health budgets, unchanged since 2017, according to the report. High-income countries spend up to $65 per person on mental…
https://www.visionmonday.com/business/research-and-stats/art…
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“The WHO and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) categorise mental health conditions into several groups”
CORROBORATED
Both Al Jazeera and another source discussing types of mental disorders confirm that the WHO and DSM-5 categorize mental health conditions into groups.
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web search NEUTRAL — Some mental health professionals use the manual to determine and help communicate a patient's diagnosis after an evaluation. Hospitals, clinics, and insurance companies in the United States may requir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Man…
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web search NEUTRAL — The WHO and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) categorise mental health conditions into several groups.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/21/the-numbers-behind-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Both the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and WHO guidelines offer structured categories to classify mental disorders, as professionals can use these structured categories…
https://delandts.com/11-types-of-mental-disorders/
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“Spending on mental health ranges from $0.04 per capita in low-income countries to $0.34 per capita in lower-middle income countries and $65.89 in high-income countries, according to the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2024”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources report the specific per capita spending figures ($0.04 low-income, $0.34 lower-middle, $65.89 high-income) attributed to the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Government expenditure on healthcare was about 3.1% of its total gross domestic product in 2018.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Indonesia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. Mental health plays a crucial role in an individual's daily life when managi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“The prevalence of mental health disorders across WHO regions in 2019 was: Americas: 15.6 percent, Eastern Mediterranean: 14.7 percent, Europe: 14.2 percent, Southeast Asia: 13.2 percent, Western Pacific: 11.7 percent, Africa: 10.9 percent”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only one source (The numbers behind global mental health...) provides the specific percentage breakdown by WHO region for 2019. Other results are too general.
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web search NEUTRAL — The prevalence of mental illness is higher in more unequal rich countries. The prevalence of mental disorders has been studied around the world, providing estimates on how common mental disorders are.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_mental_disorders
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web search NEUTRAL — The prevalence of mental health disorders across WHO regions in 2019 was: Americas: 15.6 percent of the population. Eastern Mediterranean: 14.7 percent. Europe: 14.2 percent.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/21/the-numbers-behind-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Americas. South-East Asia. Europe. Eastern Mediterranean.Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. Suicide is the third le…
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-…
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“According to the latest Global Burden of Disease report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the most common mental health disorders globally include: Depressive disorders affecting 694.6 people per 100,000; Anxiety disorders affecting 686.5 per 100,000; Schizophrenia affecting 210.2 per 100,000; Bipolar disorder affecting 94.6 per 100,000; Eating disorders affecting 47.5 per 100,000”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
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“mental health disorders... accounting for roughly one in every six years lived with disability (YLDs) worldwide – the second biggest cause of long-term disability, according to the WHO”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
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“According to an analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet, about 740,000 suicides are reported annually”
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“Suicide is the 17th leading cause of death across all age ranges”
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“It is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 globally, and the second leading cause of death among 15-to-29-year-old women”
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“In 2021, the incidence of male suicides was four times higher than female suicides globally, with a suicide rate of 12.8 per 100,000 for males compared to 5.4 per 100,000 for females”
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“An estimated 359 million people globally have an anxiety disorder”
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“That number has increased by more than 50 percent since 1990”
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“7.6 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds suffering from the disorder”
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“only one in four people with anxiety receives treatment, according to the WHO”
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“According to the WHO and IHME, Portugal has the highest rates of anxiety... with 13.3 percent of the population suffering... followed by Brazil (12.4 percent) and Iran (12.3 percent)”
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“An estimated 332 million people live with depression”
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“According to the WHO, depression is the single largest contributor to disability worldwide in terms of years living with a disability”
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“Globally, more than 10 percent of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression”
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“According to the WHO and IHME, Syria has the highest rates of depressive disorders... with eight percent of the population suffering. This is followed by the United Kingdom (6.8 percent) and the Netherlands (6.2 percent)”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.