In every year over a third of the total EU population suffers from mental disorders. The true size of "disorders of the brain" including neurological disorders is even considerably larger. Disorders of the brain are the largest contributor to the all cause morbidity burden as measured by DALY in the EU. No indications for increasing overall rates of mental disorders were found nor of improved care and treatment since 2005; less than one third of all cases receive any treatment, suggesting a considerable level of unmet needs. We conclude that the true size and burden of disorders of the brain in the EU was significantly underestimated in the past. Concerted priority action is needed at all levels, including substantially increased funding for basic, clinical and public health research in order to identify better strategies for improved prevention and treatment for disorders of the brain as the core health challenge of the 21st century.

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Epidemiological data on a wide range of mental disorders from community studies conducted in European countries are presented to determine the availability and consistency of prevalence, disability and treatment findings for the EU. Using a stepwise multimethod approach, 27 eligible studies with quite variable designs and methods including over 150,000 subjects from 16 European countries were identified. Prevalence: On the basis of meta-analytic techniques as well as on reanalyses of selected data sets, it is estimated that about 27% (equals 82.7 million; 95% CI: 78.5-87.1) of the adult EU population, 18-65 of age, is or has been affected by at least one mental disorder in the past 12 months. Taking into account the considerable degree of comorbidity (about one third had more than one disorder), the most frequent disorders are anxiety disorders, depressive, somatoform and substance dependence disorders. When taking into account design, sampling and other methodological differences between studies, little evidence seems to exist for considerable cultural or country variation. Disability and treatment: despite very divergent and fairly crude assessment strategies, the available data consistently demonstrate (a) an association of all mental disorders with a considerable disability burden in terms of number of work days lost (WLD) and (b) generally low utilization and treatment rates. Only 26% of all cases had any consultation with professional health care services, a finding suggesting a considerable degree of unmet need. The paper highlights considerable future research needs for coordinated EU studies across all disorders and age groups. As prevalence estimates could not simply be equated with defined treatment needs, such studies should determine the degree of met and unmet needs for services by taking into account severity, disability and comorbidity. These needs are most pronounced for the new EU member states as well as more generally for adolescent and older populations.

Background. The German National Health Interview and Examination Survey (GHS) is the first government mandated nationwide study to investigate jointly the prevalence of somatic and mental disorders within one study in the general adult population in Germany. This paper reports results from its Mental Health Supplement (GHS-MHS) on 4-week 12-month, and selected lifetime prevalence of a broad range of DSM-IV mental disorders, their co-morbidity and correlates in the community.Methods. The sample of the GHS-MHS (n=4181; multistage stratified random sample drawn from population registries ; conditional response rate : 87 . 6 %) can be regarded as representative for the German population aged 18-65. Diagnoses are based on fully structured computer assisted clinical interviews (M-CIDI), conducted by clinically trained interviewers.Results. 12-month prevalence for any DSM-IV study disorder is 31 % (lifetime : 43 % ; 4-week : 20 %) with anxiety disorders, mood disorders and somatoform syndromes being the most frequent diagnoses. Retrospective age of onset information reveals that most disorders begin early in life. Comorbidity rates among mental disorders range from 44 % to 94%. Correlates of increased rates of mental disorders and co-morbidity were : female gender (except for substance disorders), not being married, low social class, and poor somatic health status. Health care utilization for mental disorders depended on co-morbidity (30 % in 'pure', 76 % in highly co-morbid cases) and varied from 33% for substance use disorders to 75 % for panic disorder.Conclusions. Results confirm and extend results from other national studies using the same assessment instruments with regard to prevalence, co-morbidity and sociodemographic correlates, covering a broader range of DSM-IV disorders [i.e. somatoform disorders, all anxiety disorders (except PTSD), mental disorders due to substance or general medical factor, eating disorders]. Intervention rates were higher than in previous studies, yet still low overall.

This paper provides up to date prevalence estimates of mental disorders in Germany derived from a national survey (German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults, Mental Health Module [DEGS1-MH]). A nationally representative sample (N = 5318) of the adult (18-79) population was examined by clinically trained interviewers with a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (DEGS-CIDI) to assess symptoms, syndromes and diagnoses according to DSM-IV-TR (25 diagnoses covered). Of the participants 27.7% met criteria for at least one mental disorder during the past 12 months, among them 44% with more than one disorder and 22% with three or more diagnoses. Most frequent were anxiety (15.3%), mood (9.3%) and substance use disorders (5.7%). Overall rates for mental disorders were substantially higher in women (33% versus 22% in men), younger age group (18-34: 37% versus 20% in age group 65-79), when living without a partner (37% versus 26% with partnership) or with low (38%) versus high socio-economic status (22%). High degree of urbanization (> 500,000 inhabitants versus < 20,000) was associated with elevated rates of psychotic (5.2% versus 2.5%) and mood disorders (13.9% versus 7.8%). The findings confirm that almost one third of the general population is affected by mental disorders and inform about subsets in the population who are particularly affected.

Anxiety disorders are independently associated with several physical conditions in the community, and this comorbidity is significantly associated with poor quality of life and disability.

To our knowledge, these findings are consistent with and extend the findings of previous reports by providing the first available information on the association between physician-diagnosed asthma and DSM-IV mental disorders in a representative population sample of adults. Our results suggest an association between asthma and a range of mental disorders. Longitudinal studies that can examine the sequence of onset and the role of genetic and environmental factors in the association between asthma and affective and anxiety disorders are needed next to further elucidate possible shared causative mechanisms.

Our results suggest that social anxiety below the diagnostic threshold is clearly associated with adverse outcomes. Prospective designs should examine the exact temporal and possible causal pathways of this burden in order to inform prevention and early intervention programs.