The U.N. agency lamented the fact that the benefits of medical advances and cheap drugs have failed to reach many of the people afflicted with mental and neurological health problems. Many of them suffer silently. Beyond the suffering and beyond the absence of care lie the frontiers of stigma, shame, exclusion and, more often than we care to know, death. Millions of people suffer from depression, linked to changes in brain chemicals.
Women are twice as susceptible as men.
The rate of suicide among men and adolescents is on the increase, with countries from the former Soviet bloc reporting the 10 highest suicide rates worldwide. Longer life expectancy has led to an increase in dementia, a degenerative brain syndrome which affects memory and behavior. The most common form of this is Alzheimer's Disease, which currently affects about 11 million people worldwide and is likely to double over the next 25 years. About 45 million people suffer from schizophrenia, which often includes psychotic experiences such as hearing voices. It is genetically linked and spread evenly around the world.