FOCUS — One in seven Chinese faces mental disorders, figures rise over three decades

Over the last 30 years, China has recorded a rise in mental disorders, with one in seven citizens affected, Italian media outlet La Repubblica reported.

One of the most popular books of the past year in China was written by psychiatrist Jiang Tao, who works at Beijing’s Anding Hospital, one of the country’s most advanced institutions in the field of mental health.

The book is titled “Calm the Heart” and in recent months it has been among the most highly rated books on Douban, a popular Chinese platform where users rate books.

This is seen as an indicator of the Chinese public’s growing interest in mental health issues.

In a highly competitive society like China’s, which over recent decades has undergone enormous economic and social changes, more and more people are facing mental health problems.

A new study, recently published in The Lancet by several Chinese researchers, shows that over the last 30 years China has recorded a considerable rise in mental disorders.

The number of people living with mental disorders in China has risen markedly over the last three decades, reaching around 191.2 million cases in 2023, according to the new study published in The Lancet.

The study, based on data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2023, analyzed the state of mental health in China from 1990 to 2023, at national level and across 33 administrative units.

According to the researchers, in 2023 the age-standardized prevalence rate for mental disorders was 12,706 cases per 100,000 residents, about 14.6% higher than in 1990.

The total number of cases had risen by about 45.6% over the same period, partly due to population growth and aging.

Depression and anxiety disorders remain among the main problems

According to the study, they accounted respectively for 35.6% and 26.3% of the overall health burden linked to mental disorders.

Meanwhile, eating disorders recorded the largest rise in prevalence, up 63.4% over the analyzed period.

The authors also note considerable differences by age, gender and region.

The burden of mental disorders was particularly high in the age groups 5–19, 30–39 and 50–59.

Women carried a higher burden from depressive disorders, while among men the burden linked to autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorders was higher.

According to La Repubblica’s reporting, researchers link this development to China’s major social and economic changes.

Rapid urbanization, competition in education and in the labor market, widespread use of social media and mass migration from rural areas to cities may have created new psychological pressures.

These are considered possible factors, not proof that a single factor causes the rise in mental disorders.

The study stresses that the problems are not the same across all of China.

The authors highlight major differences between provinces and call for interventions better tailored to people’s age, gender and the area where they live.

They see telemedicine as an opportunity, especially for regions where mental health services are more limited.

Source: La Repubblica / The Lancet