ESEMeD is the first study to highlight the magnitude of mental disorders in the six European countries studied. Mental disorders were frequent, more common in female, unemployed, disabled persons, or persons who were never married or previously married. Younger persons were also more likely to have mental disorders, indicating an early age of onset for mood, anxiety and alcohol disorders.

Background Anxiety disorders are a major cause of burden of disease. Treatment gaps have been described, but a worldwide evaluation is lacking. We estimated, among individuals with a 12-month DSM-IV anxiety disorder in 21 countries, the proportion who: i) perceived a need for treatment; ii) received any treatment; and (iii) received possibly adequate treatment. Methods Data from 24 community surveys in 21 countries of the WMH surveys. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed (WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview, CIDI 3.0). DSM-IV included PTSD among anxiety disorders, while it is not considered so in the DSM-5. We asked if, in the previous 12 months, respondents felt they needed professional treatment and if they obtained professional treatment (specialized/general medical, complementary alternative medical, or non-medical professional) for “problems with emotions, nerves, mental health, or use of alcohol or drugs”. Possibly adequate treatment was defined as receiving pharmacotherapy (1+ months of medication and 4+ visits to a medical doctor) or psychotherapy, CAM or non-medical care (8+ visits). Results Of 51,547 respondents (response=71.3%), 9.8% had a 12-month DSM-IV anxiety disorder, 27.6% of whom received any treatment, and only 9.8% received possibly adequate treatment. 41.3% of those with 12-month anxiety perceived a need for care. Lower treatment levels were found for lower income countries. Conclusions Low levels of service use and a high proportion of those receiving services not meeting adequacy standards for anxiety disorders exist worldwide. Results suggest the need for improving recognition of anxiety disorders and the quality of treatment.

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The results suggest that mental disorders are important determinants of work role disability and quality of life, often outnumbering the impact of common chronic physical disorders.

Introduction-We assessed the prevalence of perceived stigma among persons with mental disorders and chronic physical conditions in an international study.

Background There is a growing body of literature highlighting the role that wearable and mobile remote measurement technology (RMT) can play in measuring symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD). Outcomes assessment typically relies on self-report, which can be biased by dysfunctional perceptions and current symptom severity. Predictors of depressive relapse include disrupted sleep, reduced sociability, physical activity, changes in mood, prosody and cognitive function, which are all amenable to measurement via RMT. This study aims to: 1) determine the usability, feasibility and acceptability of RMT; 2) improve and refine clinical outcome measurement using RMT to identify current clinical state; 3) determine whether RMT can provide information predictive of depressive relapse and other critical outcomes. Methods RADAR-MDD is a multi-site prospective cohort study, aiming to recruit 600 participants with a history of depressive disorder across three sites: London, Amsterdam and Barcelona. Participants will be asked to wear a wrist-worn activity tracker and download several apps onto their smartphones. These apps will be used to either collect data passively from existing smartphone sensors, or to deliver questionnaires, cognitive tasks, and speech assessments. The wearable device, smartphone sensors and questionnaires will collect data for up to 2-years about participants’ sleep, physical activity, stress, mood, sociability, speech patterns, and cognitive function. The primary outcome of interest is MDD relapse, defined via the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology- Self-Report questionnaire (IDS-SR) and the World Health Organisation’s self-reported Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI-SF). Discussion This study aims to provide insight into the early predictors of major depressive relapse, measured unobtrusively via RMT. If found to be acceptable to patients and other key stakeholders and able to provide clinically useful information predictive of future deterioration, RMT has potential to change the way in which depression and other long-term conditions are measured and managed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-019-2049-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

These data question the appropriateness of current pharmacological treatments, particularly for major depression, in which under-treatment is coupled with the high use of non-specific medications, such as anxiolytics.