Mental Illness Overview
Social and Economic Impact
The burden of mental illness on health and productivity in the United States and throughout the world has long been profoundly underestimated. Data developed by the massive Global Burden of Disease study, conducted by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and Harvard University, reveal that mental illness, including suicide, ranks second in the burden of disease in established market economies such as the United States. Mental illness emerged from the Global Burden of Disease study as a surprisingly significant contributor to the burden of disease. The measure of calculating disease burden in this study, called disability-adjusted life years (DALYs),…
