EU study: what is the true cost of mental illness?

ONE-IN-FOUR people suffer a form of mental illness during their lifetime, a new Europe-wide study reveals.

A high level of sufferers experience discrimination as a result of mental ill health with two-thirds not likely to work again.

Mental health problems are increasing significantly. Some EU countries registered up to 6% of the population as having serious mental disorders with 30% seeking GP consultations.

Sufferers and their families are seeking an end to the discrimination associated with the disease and are demanding EU governments treat the issue with priority.

The study, by the British charity Rethink and the European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness, paints a harrowing picture for the estimated 27% of European adults suffering ongoing mental illnesses.

Due to job discrimination, only one-third are in paid employment, said Cliff Prior, chief executive of Rethink.

In the study, one of the Irish respondents observed discrimination in “the little things — like why you were not promoted or the way mental health is treated as a laugh over your shoulder.”

A massive 90% said they would like medication with less adverse side-effects.

Studies estimate that by 2020 depression will be the highest ranking cause of disease in the developed world.

The cost is enormous at personal, family and economic levels. The experts say mental illness is responsible for the majority of the annual 58,000 deaths by suicide, which is more than the number of deaths from road traffic accidents, murders or HIV/AIDS.

The economic cost is estimated to be between 3-4% of GDP, but the true cost for sufferers can be poverty and social exclusion.

Irish patients questioned for the study were among the most vociferous.

Their wish list included “help with finding paid employment with an employer who understands mental health issues”, while another sought “medication which is better at treating negative side effects, but without increasing drowsiness”.

The European Commission is developing a green paper on mental illness.