Examining the associations of mental health policies, resources, and services with the burden of mental disorders through a global lens

Aims: Mental disorders represent a major public health challenge worldwide. While research has identified diverse individual-level, interpersonal-level, and community-level determinants of mental disorders, there remains a significant gap in understanding how country-level determinants, such as mental health policies, resources, and services, impact the global burden of mental disorders. This study examines global and regional mental health policies, resources, services, and their associations with Disability-Adjusted Life Years, Years Lived with Disability, and Years of Life Lost due to mental disorders. Methods: Data from 165 countries were analyzed using the World Health Organization Mental Health Atlas 2020 and the 2019 Global Burden of Disease datasets, following a six-stage, evidence-based approach informed by global health literature. Results: The Eastern Mediterranean region had the highest mean values of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (1911.442 per 100,000 population) and Years Lived with Disability (1911.375 per 100,000 population). The European region had the highest median value of Years of Life Lost (0.263 per 100,000 population). The African region reported the fewest mental health services, the Western Pacific region had the most mental health inpatient facilities, and the Americas region led in mental health outpatient facilities. Significant associations were found between World Health Organization-reported mental health policies and Years Lived with Disability (b = 117.808, p = .046), the number of mental health professionals per 100,000 population and Years Lived with Disability (b = 0.872, p = .008), and the total number of inpatient mental health facilities and Years of Life Lost (b = 0.001, p = .001). Conclusions: The results highlighted the chronic, non-fatal nature of mental disorders and regional disparities in mental health services. The associations identified may inform improvements in global mental health management. Governments can refer to the findings to identify regions with mental health service gaps and allocate resources accordingly, develop evidence-based interventions that consider multiple factors, and integrate mental health into broader policies. Efforts can be made toward continuous evaluation of country-based investment and policy implementation to ensure long-term impact.