Mental and substance use disorders are on the rise, alongside other noncommunicable diseases. Investing in mental health interventions could help individuals reclaim years of healthy life and boost the global economy by up to $4.4 trillion in 2050. Despite contributing to a substantial 290 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of the global disease burden, mental health conditions only receive 2 percent of domestic government healthcare funding globally, resulting in an annual funding gap of $200 billion to $350 billion. Scaling known, cost-effective interventions to prevent, treat, and help people recover from mental health conditions (which include mental and substance use disorders) could avert 150 million DALYs globally in 2050. Each $1 invested in scaling mental health interventions could have an economic return of $5 to $6.
