Mental Health — An Issue Neglected by European Public Health Systems?

Abstract

Mental disorders comprise a wide spectrum of illnesses that are characterized by tremendous disabilities and impairments. In addition to this loss of quality of life for patients, mental disorders entail high costs for public health systems. In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on the economics of mental disorders. Overall, there seems to be evidence indicating a notable prevalence of mental disorders and a sizeable treatment gap, expressed in a large number of patients suffering from one (or more) mental disorder(s) who have been treated insufficiently. The question arises whether the unmet need is due to a general lack of awareness within (national) health and social care systems and a kind of misallocation of resources (supply-side problem) or if the utilization of services is hindered by stigma or exclusion (demand-side problem).