Published on October 11, 2012 at 5:06 AM
"Wednesday (October 10th) is World Mental Health Day," VOA News reports, noting, "The World Health Organization is using the occasion to call for an end to stigma against those who suffer from depression and other mental disorders" (DeCapua, 10/9). Depression affects 350 million people worldwide, with nearly five percent of the world's population suffering from depression annually, according to Medical Daily (Tucker, 10/9). More than three-quarters of people living with mental health disorders reside in developing countries, BBC News notes, adding, "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), eight in every 10 of those living in developing nations receive no treatment at all" (Roberts, 10/10). The WHO "warns stigma is a huge problem that prevents many people from seeking help," VOA writes (10/9).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.