Aubrey BelfordMarch 18, 2010 12:54Updated May 30, 2010 13:22

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Psychiatrist Sotheara Chhim has given more thought than most to the mental burdens carried by Cambodians. Pointing to a glass of water on his table, he describes how the legacy of decades marred by war, genocide and enduring poverty still help push so many here over the edge. “I think every Cambodian is like a glass carrying some water, meaning the traumatic past,” he said. “If more water is put in, the glass fills easier than an empty glass.”

Claire McCartneyFebruary 21, 2013 17:42

Q&A: Should mental health be part of the gun control debate?

Forensic psychologist Dr. Reid Meloy tells GlobalPost that the link between mental illness and gun violence isn't as strong as the public might think.

Enlarge

Dr. Reid Meloy, forensic psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (Courtesy)

GlobalPost talked to Dr. Reid Meloy about the role of mental health in the current national gun control debate.

Emily JudemJanuary 28, 2013 12:45

New action plan could be a turning point in global mental health

The World Health Organization is attempting to improve the astounding statistics that surround mental healthcare around the world.

Enlarge

Gede, 35, sits in his cell May 5, 2012 in Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia. His family keeps him in a locked room to control him so he doesn't run away and disturb the community. Diagnosed with Schizophrenia, he has had mental problems since 2001 and has been hospitalized seven times. The Indonesian health ministry spends 2.3 percent of the total national budget on health care for a population of approximately 240 million people. Bali has a shortage of psychiatrists and one government-run mental hospital. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

US Congress isn’t the only place where mental health discussions have surfaced recently.

The World Health Organization (WHO) discussed the latest draft of a new Global Mental Health Action Plan last week, which, if adopted, would set clear goals for progress and aim to improve accountability in improving mental healthcare around the world.

The action plan will be officially voted for at the World Health Assembly in May, but the draft of the plan received wide support at the recent WHO Executive Board meeting, according to Kelly O’Donnell, coordinator of the Mental Health-Psychosocial Working Group of the NGO Forum for Health, who attended the meeting.

The adoption of the action plan would represent a turning point in global mental healthcare, said O’Donnell.

On Location Video: In a land of faith healers, New Delhi gets street psychiatry

Mark SchefflerDecember 17, 2012 15:19

NEW DELHI — India's shortage of psychiatrists has become a glaring issue even as the country makes economic strides.

On Location Video: Mental illness is rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Suzanna KosterDecember 17, 2012 14:49

Pakistani doctors say three times as many patients are seeking treatment for mental illness. Patients travel from as far as Afghanistan to seek treatment for mental anguish sparked by war.

In-depth series: global state of mental health

News DeskDecember 17, 2012 13:17

Days after Adam Lanza shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School, gun control laws are once again the subject of hot debate. But what about mental-health policy? What if mental health care was as easy to get as, say, a gun? GlobalPost takes a trip around the globe to see how psychological issues are treated outside America.

Amy SilversteinOctober 16, 2012 11:35

Creativity and mental illness linked in new, large-scale study

People in creative professions are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness, a new study has found.

Enlarge

The Royal Shakespeare Company performing in Stratford-Upon Avon, England. (Cate Gillon/Getty Images)

"If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient's illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment."

Dr. David J. Grelotti and Dr. Stephanie SmithOctober 10, 2012 06:11

Rich or poor, depression is a growing global crisis

Depression could become the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Haiti medical commentary depression 2012 10 05

Enlarge

People receive medical kits to aid in the prevention of cholera on February 11, 2011 from the International Red Cross in a city tent in Delmas, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Similar medical efforts to address depression and other mental illnesses through organizations like Partners in Health have been shown to be effective. (Thony Belizaire/AFP/Getty Images)

Many think depression is a distinctly first-world illness, but medical efforts in impoverished areas are showing this belief to be completely untrue.

Michael GoldfarbFebruary 10, 2012 10:07

Mental health: British shrinks beg to differ

New American definitions of illness provoke controversy among British mental health professionals

Enlarge

Sir Laurence Olivier as Hamlet. Was the Prince of Denmark crazy? or just in need of some psychotherapy? (AFP/Getty Images)

From this side of the Atlantic, the U.S. increasingly looks like a loony bin. The Republican debates may be the best reality show ever invented but they do not enhance America's reputation abroad for being a sane, stable society.

No surprise then that health-care professionals in Britain are pushing back against the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the handbook of psychiatric diagnosis, published by the American Psychiatric Association. It sets the international standard but to many British mental health professionals it goes way overboard in classifying behaviors as clinically ill.

DSM-5 is due to be published in May. Peter Kinderman, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Liverpool, told The Guardian, he disagreed with the new category of "oppositional defiant disorder." He called it dubious. "Since my children say, 'no, you are an idiot, dad' repeatedly to me, by definition my children are ill."

Thomas MuchaSeptember 7, 2011 15:38

Mental health: Why are Europeans afraid of spiders?

Nearly 40 percent of all Europeans suffered from a mental disorder in 2010, a new study says.

Enlarge

A human brain is displayed in a museum at the @Bristol attraction on March 8, 2011 in Bristol, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

If you like numbers (and who doesn't), then check out this fascinating chart from the Economist.

According to a study published this week in European Neuropsychopharmacology, 38 percent of all Europeans suffered from a mental illness in 2010.

That works out to about 165 million people.

Which mental health afflictions do Europeans most commonly suffer?

Here's a quick rundown of the data, which came from a study of the 27 countries in the European Union, plus Norway, Switzerland and Iceland:

Depression tops the list. More than 30 million suffered from it in 2010, or 6.7 percent of the total.
Some 22 million people reported specific phobias such as fear of spiders, the Economist notes.
More than 20 million had somatoform disorders (hypochondrias, persistent pain disorders, etc.).
About 12 million people suffered from sleep apnea, 10 million had social phobias and 8 million had agoraphobia (a panic disorder related to the fear of outdoors, bridges and being outside alone).

Here's the full list:

Source: The Economist