• Acute mental health conditions impact millions of Europeans – 1 in 20 EU citizens are affected by conditions such as depression and schizophrenia.
• The economic burden of mental health is vast – mental ill-health is estimated to cost Member States over 4% of GDP per year.
• European policymakers need to adhere to their policy commitments on mental health, seeking solutions that address the social and economic burden of acute mental health conditions.

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.[1] 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.[2]

In response, the European Commission published its plan for a comprehensive approach to mental health in June 2023, outlining three guiding principles that would ensure:

1. adequate and effective prevention
2. access to high-quality and affordable treatment
3. reintegration into society after recovery[3]

These policy actions reflect a change in societal attitudes too. There has been a growing consensus across Europe that mental health promotion is as important as physical health promotion – with almost nine in ten (89%) Europeans aligning with this view.[4] And it’s true: if we are to live longer lives (as is now expected to be the case in Europe[5]), we need to ensure our lives are happier and more fulfilling than today. Preventing poor mental health is just as crucial as promoting good physical health.

As part of our Mental health matters project, we will be exploring the impact of acute mental health conditions across the life course. We want to generate a global debate among key policy and health stakeholders on the importance of addressing acute mental health across our lives and understand how these conditions not only impact the individual but society more broadly. We want to inspire and engage policymakers to ensure that people not only have lives that are longer but are happier and more productive too.

In a year of European Parliamentary elections and the subsequent establishment of a new Commission, keeping mental health firmly on the European policy agenda is vital. Ahead of our roundtable discussion in Brussels on Wednesday 6 March, we want to take a look at mental health across Europe and what action needs to be taken by the EU.

Acute mental health conditions in Europe: what do the numbers suggest?

OECD statistics from 2018 suggest that around 1 in 6 (17.1%) Europeans live with a mental health condition. Around 1 in 20 (5.6%) of Europeans are affected by acute conditions such as depressive disorders, bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. Across 31 European countries, the economic cost and incidence rates of acute mental health conditions varies:

Source: OECD, 2018

Acute mental health conditions cost European countries 3.7% of GDP on average, rising to 4.1% for EU countries. This figure equates to €600 billion in direct health and indirect labour costs every year, and this figure can be broken down:

Source: OECD, 2018

Addressing and preventing acute mental health conditions is not only necessary to ensure longer and more fulfilling lives, but also to help reduce the economic burden posed by mental ill-health too. There is a need to address acute mental health conditions so that people can remain socially and economically active throughout their lives.

What next for Europe?

With the European Parliament elections taking place in June and a new Commission set to be established in the autumn, 2024 is a crucial opportunity to inspire and engage candidates and seek policy commitments from EU stakeholders.

The EU has an opportunity to build on its 2023 plan by exploring the impact of acute mental health conditions on people’s lives and how to ensure better support across the life course. The EU’s approach puts a clear emphasis on younger people’s mental health; expanding this by taking a life course approach will be crucial to ensure that mental ill-health is being addressed throughout our lives. We are all living for longer, but we need to make sure these lives are healthier, happier, more engaged, and more fulfilling. We cannot afford to be prescriptive about how people of different ages and life stages seek diagnosis and treatment: mental health support must be comprehensively available and accessible to all.

So, how does ILC want to address mental ill-health? As part of our global project, we want to:

• Assess the social and economic costs and impact of acute mental health conditions.
• Understand the stigma surrounding mental health and the differences across generations, and how societies and cultures can adapt to better support people.
• Evaluate the current services and care provisions on mental health and how to best democratise access.

As well as engaging with global policymakers, we want to inspire EU stakeholders to include these aspects of mental health in their policy approaches. This election year is an opportunity to set out some ambitious goals and to secure future commitments from European policymakers who have the power to make meaningful change on behalf of the mental health and wellbeing of us all.

[1] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/mental-health/

[2] https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3032

[3] https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-way-life/european-health-union/comprehensive-approach-mental-health_en

[4] https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/3032

[5] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/visualizing-the-european-union-s-aging-population-by-2100/