In 2021, an estimated 1.095 billion people were living with a mental disorder. That is 14 percent of the world, nearly one in every seven people, according to the World Health Organization’s latest report, World Mental Health Today. In the WHO African Region, about 12.9 percent of people were affected. On World Mental Health Day, these are not just statistics. They are our classmates, colleagues, parents and neighbours.
The most common conditions are the ones we often wave away as stress or tiredness. Anxiety disorders affected about 359 million people and depressive disorders about 332 million, and together they account for more than two-thirds of all mental health conditions. They also start early. Half of all mental disorders begin by the age of 18, and in 2021 around 14 percent of adolescents aged 10 to 19 were living with one.
Yet help remains hard to reach. WHO estimates that fewer than one in ten people with major depression (9 percent) receive even minimally adequate treatment, and in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia that figure falls below 3 percent. Lower-middle-income countries, the group that includes Nigeria, have a median of just 2.4 mental health workers per 100,000 people, compared with 13.5 globally and 67.2 in high-income countries. Governments, on average, give only 2 percent of their health budgets to mental health.
Silence also carries a price. Depression and anxiety alone are estimated to cost the world 12 billion working days and US$1 trillion every year. Behind those figures is a student who cannot concentrate, a parent holding everything together, and a worker running on empty, each hoping someone will ask how they are really doing.
We believe that question deserves a real answer. Through House of Refuge, our teams have walked alongside individuals and families facing addiction and mental health challenges, offering counselling, medical care and pastoral support in an environment of dignity. We have seen that with the right help at the right time, people recover and rebuild.
That is why, this October, we are opening our doors. Join us for free one-on-one counselling with our counsellors, a panel session and an open question-and-answer session. If you cannot be there in person, join our Live chat. We hope to offer free mental health counselling and testing to 50 people, so spaces are limited. Register today at HERE and tell us briefly why you want to attend. It helps us follow up with the support you need. Bring a friend, a colleague or a family member, and help us make this October a month where talking about mental health becomes ordinary.
If you are struggling right now, speak to someone you trust, or contact House of Refuge Inquiry/helpline 0911 277 7600.
You are not alone, and help is here.