Mental Health in the Asia-Pacific Region: An Overview
Mental health problem is one of the growing major public health issues in the Asia
Pacific region. It contributes to the high number of Disability Adjusted Life Years
(DALYs), morbidity and mortality in the region. It is expected that leading mental
health problems will occur in the low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and
majority of the countries which comes under this category are in the Asia Pacific
region. In addition, mental health problem hamper the achievement of Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 1, MDG 4 and MDG 5. The most
common mental health problems in the region are depression, anxiety, posttraumatic
stress disorder, suicidal behaviour and substance abuse disorder. Several
modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors were identified for the cause of these
major mental health issues. Interventions, programmes and policies need to be
designed in order to curb mental health problems at all levels.
Keywords: mental health, Asia Pacific, depression, suicidal behaviour, Post-traumatic
Stress disorder, community-based interventions