About
Demography, stigma, conflict, COVID-19, and economic and social pressures are contributing to increasing mental health conditions across the world. In addition to the social impact, mental health conditions are impacting significantly on the economy and economic growth.
According to the WHO, “mental disorders are the leading contributor to the global burden of years lived with disability”. Yet a recent BMJ article argued that “All countries have failed to achieve universal health coverage for mental disorders, owing to barriers related to budget and stigma”.
At present, there is little global effort to address some of the underlying issues. We want to generate a global debate among key policy and health stakeholders on the importance of addressing mental health across our lives. We want to inspire and engage policymakers to ensure that people not only live longer lives, but longer and happier lives too.
Throughout this project, we will be looking at:
- The social and economic costs and implications of acute mental health conditions.
- Stigma surrounding mental health and the differences across generations and the life course.
- The current services and care provisions on mental health and how to best democratise access.
Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) has provided financial support to ILC to conduct this project. ILC has retained editorial control of all written outputs.
Report
Mind the age gap: making mental health matter across the life course
24 February 2025
Decision-makers around the world are failing to meet society’s mental healthcare needs. This failure has negative economic and social consequences that will be magnified across our longer lives. One in every eight people around the world currently suffers from a mental health condition, and half of us will experience such a condition at some stage in our lives. In 2021, the world’s population experienced over 155 million years lived with disability (YLD) as a result of mental health conditions. That’s the equivalent of every person in the world spending over a week (7.2 days) with a mental health-related disability.
Events
Upcoming events
To view ILC’s upcoming events, please visit our Events page here.
Past events
Policy discussion – Mental Health Matters: A Global Policy Agenda
Date: 25 February 2025
Time: 12.30pm – 1.45pm GMT
Location: Zoom webinar
At this webinar, ILC hosted a policy discussion focusing on the findings from the Mental Health Matters report. As part of this project, ILC has generated a debate among key policy and health stakeholders on how we can forge stronger policies to address and reduce the impact of serious mental health conditions across the life course.
Mental Health Matters: How can the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting prioritise serious mental health conditions in an ageing world?
Date: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Time: 8:30am – 10:30am EDT
Location: The Yale Club of New York City, US
At this event, ILC-UK hosted a breakfast solutions workshop alongside the UNGA meeting in New York. During this event, we discussed the challenges associated with acute mental health globally, and in the US. We identified policy opportunities to improve the prevention, management and treatment of acute mental health conditions.
Research symposium: Mental Health Matters – what are the policy priorities for Japan?
Date: Thursday, 5 September 2024
Time: 12:00pm – 4:00pm JST
Location: National Institute of Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan
At this research symposium in Tokyo, ILC explored mental healthcare in Japan.
Mental Health Matters: What are the policy priorities for the WHO?
Date: Tuesday, 28 May 2024
Time: 3:30pm – 5:00pm CEST
Location: Geneva Press Club, Geneva, Switzerland
At this expert roundtable discussion alongside the 77th World Health Assembly, ILC explored the impact of acute mental health conditions across the globe.
Mental Health Matters: What are the policy priorities for the Belgian Presidency and the next European Commission?
Date: Wednesday, 6 March 2024
Location: Silversquare Europe, Square de Meeûs 35, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
At this event, ILC hosted an expert roundtable discussion exploring mental health policy and best-practice in the EU.
Videos
Policy discussion – Mental Health Matters: A Global Policy Agenda
Blogs
Mental health in Europe: What happens next?
10 July 2024
Following the European elections last month, there is a clear opportunity to influence the new priorities for the work of the European Commission. In this blog ILC Chief Executive, David Sinclair, writes about the key findings so far in our ‘Mental Health Matters’ programme of work that are relevant to European and global stakeholders seeking policy change to alleviate the mental health burden.
Making mental health matter: we need to take a life course approach to ensure adequate mental health care and services across generations
23 May 2024
How do ageism and intergeneration misunderstandings affect how we collectively understand mental health? How do these issues get in the way of managing the burden of mental ill health? This blog explores these questions and how de-emphasising age could be beneficial at the population. Delineating the population by age group is useful when gathering statistics, but perhaps less useful when managing individual symptoms and treatment decisions. ILC calls for proactive efforts across the sector to address ageism as part of developing more equitable systems and services.
Mental health matters: how do we improve support for people living with acute mental health conditions in Europe?
23 February 2024
Across Europe, millions of people are affected by mental health conditions. OECD figures from 2018 suggest that around 17% of EU citizens live with a mental health condition, with acute conditions such as depressive disorders and schizophrenia affecting 4.5% and 1.3% people respectively. This figure has sharply increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: a 2023 Eurobarometer survey found that 46% of the EU population had encountered feelings of depression or anxiety in the previous year.
Press
Stigma And “Stiff-Upper Lips” Preventing People From Seeking Support For Mental Health Conditions
27 February 2025
New research published by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) finds that serious mental health conditions are hampering people’s ability to live more fulfilling long lives.
Older people less likely to seek mental health support due to stigma and agism
24 February 2025
Older people are less likely to seek mental health support due to stigma and ageist attitudes in healthcare, a new report warned today. The International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) found that discrimination and “generational taboos” prevent many older people from accessing the care they need.
Ageism a ‘barrier’ for older people seeking mental health support – report
24 February 2025
Older people are less likely to seek mental health support due to ageism and stigma, according to a new report. The International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) said that older people may face barriers to seeking help, including discrimination and people’s own “generational taboos”. The authors of the new ILC report said that some clinicians “make ageist assumptions that depression is an inevitable consequence of ageing, and therefore more difficult to treat”.
Stigma and “stiff-upper lips” are preventing too many people from seeking support for serious mental health conditions
24 February 2025
New research published today by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) finds that serious mental health conditions are hampering people’s ability to live more fulfilling long lives. While there is increasing attention globally on mental health and wellbeing, people living with serious mental health conditions – such as major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia – remain underserved and are less likely to receive the tailored support they need.
We want to hear from you
If you would like to discuss our research or have any questions, please contact Patrick Swain.