Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mental health is increasingly recognized as a universal human right and an essential foundation of human development. Yet across the world, millions remain without access to the support they need, hindered by stigma, discrimination, and structural barriers that prevent care. These gaps undermine not only individual well-being, but also social cohesion and economic progress, making mental health a challenge that affects every dimension of life.

Meeting this challenge requires collective will: to confront stigma, to scale up prevention and treatment, and to ensure that resilience and recovery are within reach for everyone. The future of global health, equality, and sustainable development depends on making mental well-being truly universal.

Achieving mental health for all is essential to advancing public health, sustaining socio-economic development, and fulfilling human rights. It is embedded in the UN’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, encompassing equity, dignity, and inclusion.

What is mental health?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community”.

It exists on a continuum — from optimal functioning to severe distress — and is experienced differently by each person. It is influenced by a combination of individual, social, and structural factors. Risks such as genetics, substance use, poverty, violence, and inequality can undermine well-being, especially during sensitive stages like childhood.

Protective elements, such as emotional skills, supportive relationships, quality education, and safe communities, help build resilience. Local challenges and global crises, from community violence to climate change, further shape mental health outcomes. No single factor is decisive; rather, it is their interaction over time that determines overall mental well-being.

Mental disorders

Mental disorders are clinically significant disturbances in thinking, emotion, or behavior that interfere with daily life and well-being. They are among the leading causes of disability worldwide and affect people across all ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds. According to WHO, they arise from a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.

Depression is one of the most common conditions, marked by persistent sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest, often leading to difficulties in work, study, and relationships.
Anxiety disorders involve excessive fear and worry that can become chronic, with physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat or difficulty breathing.
Bipolar disorder combines episodes of depression with periods of elevated mood and energy, which can disrupt decision-making and stability in daily life.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often follows experiences of violence, disaster, or conflict. Flashbacks, nightmares, and heightened vigilance are common features.
Schizophrenia and other psychoses distort perceptions of reality, leading to hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking. They often require sustained medical and social support.
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia involve disturbed eating behaviors and body image, and are associated with severe health risks.
Neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), affect learning, communication, and social interaction from childhood onward.

While each condition presents distinct challenges, all can seriously undermine quality of life and participation in society.

Barriers to care

Effective psychological and medical treatments exist, yet most people with mental disorders do not receive appropriate care. Barriers include under-resourced health systems, stigma, discrimination, and violations of human rights. Risk factors such as poverty, violence, inequality, and disability increase vulnerability, while protective factors include strong emotional skills, supportive relationships, and access to education and social participation.

Closing the global treatment gap requires strengthening health systems and community-based care, improving prevention and early intervention, and expanding access to support in education, employment, and housing.

Vulnerable and high-risk population

Children and adolescents

Childhood and adolescence are critical stages for mental health, marked by rapid brain development and the acquisition of cognitive and social-emotional skills that shape future well-being and adult life. The quality of early environments — homes, schools, communities, and increasingly digital spaces — has a profound impact. Adverse experiences such as poverty, violence, bullying, or parental mental illness increase vulnerability, while supportive and safe environments help build resilience.

Globally, around 8% of children and 15% of adolescents live with a mental disorder, yet most do not receive needed care. Depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability in these age groups, while conditions such as developmental disabilities, epilepsy, and eating disorders also significantly affect health. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29. Without timely support, mental health problems in early life often extend into adulthood, limiting education, employment, and overall life opportunities.

Adolescents face challenges as they navigate identity, peer pressure, and transitions to adulthood. Risk factors include violence, discrimination, social exclusion, poverty, and harmful behaviors such as substance use. Protective factors — stable families, safe schools, positive peer networks, and opportunities to develop coping skills — are crucial to reducing risks.

Promoting and protecting mental health in these formative years requires prevention, early detection, and accessible, rights-based care. Effective interventions include school and community programmes that strengthen resilience, reduce stigma, and create supportive environments. Non-institutional approaches and psychosocial support are especially important to protect young people’s rights and well-being.

WHO, together with partners such as UNICEF, supports countries in expanding mental health promotion and services through initiatives like Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) and the mhGAP Intervention Guide. These frameworks help governments and communities address risks, improve access to evidence-based care, and ensure that children and adolescents are supported to grow into healthy, resilient adults.

Women and survivors of sexual violence

Survivors of gender-based violence face significantly higher risks of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). WHO identifies PTSD as one of the most common consequences of sexual violence and conflict-related trauma. Survivors may relive their experiences through flashbacks or nightmares, avoid reminders of the violence, or live in a constant state of fear and vigilance. These responses can persist long after the event, limiting daily functioning and opportunities for recovery.

In humanitarian crises and conflict zones, sexual violence is frequently used as a tactic of war. Refugee and displaced women are especially vulnerable, often with minimal access to medical or psychological support. Beyond the violence itself, survivors face stigma and discrimination in their communities, legal systems that may fail to protect them, and cultural barriers that discourage them from seeking help. These conditions leave many to suffer in silence, further compounding trauma.

Addressing survivors’ mental health requires more than clinical treatment. It involves creating safe spaces where women are believed and supported, strengthening legal frameworks and advancing women’s social and economic empowerment. These measures help break cycles of trauma and exclusion, while promoting dignity, resilience, and justice.

Older adults

Older adults contribute to society as family and community members, and many are volunteers and workers. While most have good health, many are at risk of developing mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Mental health in older adults is influenced by the cumulative impacts of past experiences and specific stressors related to aging, such as bereavement or a loss of purpose. Key risk factors for mental health conditions include social isolation, ageism, and abuse. Furthermore, those with chronic illnesses, neurological conditions, or who are caregivers are at an increased risk of psychological distress due to overwhelming responsibilities and poor access to quality services.

Mental health promotion and prevention strategies for older adults focus on supporting healthy ageing. That means creating physical and social environments that support well-being and enable people to do what is important to them, despite losses in capacity.

Mental health in emergencies

Every year, millions of people are affected by emergencies such as armed conflicts and natural disasters. These crises disrupt families, livelihoods and essential services, and significantly impact mental health. Nearly all those affected experience psychological distress.

One in five people (22%) who have experienced war or conflict in the previous 10 years has depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Emergencies can worsen mental health conditions and social issues such as poverty and discrimination. They can also contribute to new problems, such as family separation and harmful substance use.

Refugees and migrants exposed to adversity have diverse mental health needs, shaped by experiences in their country of origin, their migration journey, their host country’s entry and integration policies, and living and working conditions.

Mental health in the workplace

Workplaces shape not only livelihoods but also well-being, making them central to global mental health. An estimated 15% of working-age adults have a mental disorder at any point in time. Depression and anxiety are estimated to cost the global economy US $1 trillion each year driven predominantly by lost productivity. People living with severe mental health conditions are largely excluded from work despite participation in economic activities being important for recovery.

The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization (ILO) underscore that working conditions can both protect and harm mental health. Stressful environments, excessive workloads, bullying, harassment, and lack of support are all recognized as major risks to workers’ mental well-being.

International frameworks, such as the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, recognize mental health as part of workplace safety, but many countries still lack comprehensive national programmes for promotion and prevention. The COVID-19 pandemic further revealed weaknesses in workplace support systems and underscored the importance of integrating mental health into occupational health policies.

Guidelines on mental health at work by WHO and ILO mark a significant shift by recommending, for the first time, that managers be trained to foster positive environments, prevent stress, and respond constructively to workers in distress. They also call for accommodations that enable employees with mental health conditions to remain in or return to work with dignity and support.

The guidance highlights that the workplace is not isolated from broader social issues. Discrimination, inequality, and stigma around mental health often carry over into employment settings, discouraging open discussion and help-seeking. For many workers, especially those in health, humanitarian, and emergency services, occupational pressures combine with exposure to trauma, placing them at higher risk of burnout and psychological distress.

The UN response

The UN system addresses these challenges through coordinated health, legal, and social interventions:

WHO promotes survivor-centered, trauma-informed care that upholds dignity, confidentiality, and empowerment.
UNFPA integrates psychosocial support with reproductive health services in humanitarian settings, ensuring that care for survivors is comprehensive, with specific protections for women and girls.
UN Women leads global advocacy to end violence against women, including campaigns such as “Orange the World”, which call for stronger survivor-centered services and policy reforms.
ILO works with governments, employers, and workers to create safer and more supportive workplaces.

Call to action: global leadership and system transformation

The United Nations and the World Health Organization call for urgent transformation, urging governments and societies alike to place mental health at the center of health systems, education, workplaces, and communities. This means deepening political and financial commitment, reshaping environments so that homes, schools, and workplaces foster resilience, and building accessible community-based care that protects rights and ensures dignity for all.

WHO’s comprehensive response

All WHO Member States are committed to implementing the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030, which aims to strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health, provide comprehensive, integrated, and responsive community-based care, implement promotion and prevention strategies, and strengthen information systems, evidence, and research.

Yet, WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2020 showed that most countries are falling short of the plan’s targets. To accelerate progress, WHO launched its landmark World Mental Health Report: Transforming Mental Health for All (2022), which calls for countries to adopt three paths to transformation:

Deepen the value and commitment to mental health — by governments, communities, and individuals, with stronger investment across sectors.
Reshape environments — in homes, schools, workplaces, and communities, to better protect and promote mental well-being.
Strengthen care systems — ensuring that the full spectrum of needs is met through community-based, affordable, and quality services.

WHO emphasizes the protection of human rights, the empowerment of people with lived experience, and the importance of multisectoral and multistakeholder approaches. It continues to provide governments worldwide with evidence, tools, and technical support, including in humanitarian settings, to drive the global transformation of mental health care.

Mental health and well-being strategy

United Nations System Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for 2024 and beyond is designed to assist the United Nations in creating a working environment that is conducive to good mental health and that ensures that support is available when it is needed.

The Strategy provides a road map for creating an inclusive, sustainable work environment where mental health and well-being is embedded in the organizational culture and systems — where each and every one belongs, is valued, nurtured and thrives, ensuring an efficient workforce delivering on our promise of a better world.

The United Nations continues to advocate for workplaces that enable all employees to participate fully, free from stigma and discrimination. One of the themes of World Mental Health Day — “Mental Health at Work” — reflected this growing urgency and called for collective action to prioritize mental health as a cornerstone of decent work and sustainable development.

Doing what matters in times of stress

Too much stress can cause physical and mental health problems. Learning how to cope with stress can help feel less overwhelmed and support mental and physical well-being.

WHO's illustrated guide is a practical stress management resource designed to help people cope with adversity. It introduces simple, evidence-based techniques that can be practiced in just a few minutes each day. The guide may be used on its own or together with the accompanying audio exercises. Developed through research and extensive field testing, the guide is intended for anyone experiencing stress—regardless of their location or circumstances.

Another option to reduce anxiety and stress is mindfulness meditation which can be easily incorporated into regular routine.

Related observances

World Mental Health Day (10 October) aims to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

World Meditation Day (21 December) focuses on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This observance links yoga and meditation as complementary approaches to health and well-being.

Resources

This article was originally published on the UN website page titled "Mental Health and Wellbeing" that can be accessed through this link: https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/mental-health

UN entities involved in this initiative

United Nations

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