The Issue
Globally, we are facing a growing public health crisis. Here in America, roughly one in five adults struggle with a mental health condition at any given point in time – in other parts of the world that number jumps to one in four. The ripple effects of these challenges touch families, affect professional communities and impede corporate productivity. In addition, mental health challenges affect all demographics – men, women, young, old, all nationalities, all racial groups and all income levels. If you haven’t been directly affected by a mental health challenge, someone you care about has. Further, these issues are not checked at the door when an employee comes to work. Nor is this an insignificant financial burden on corporations. Based on data from 2010, the global direct and indirect economic costs of mental health disorders were estimated at $2.5 trillion. Importantly, the indirect costs ($1.7 trillion) are much higher than the direct costs ($0.8 trillion), which contrasts with other key disease groups, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Both direct and indirect costs of mental disorders are expected to double by 2030.
