WHO World Mental Health Surveys: Global Perspectives on the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders

The WMH surveys are representative community surveys in 28 countries throughout the world aimed at providing information to mental health policy makers about the prevalence, distribution, burden, and unmet need for treatment of common mental disorders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Harvard University jointly decided to promote a worldwide initiative of population-based surveys using the same methodologies – the World Mental Health Survey Initiative (WMHSI) – aiming to improve the knowledge on the natural history, magnitude and impact of mental illnesses. Conducted in more than 30 countries worldwide (in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Western Pacific and South-East Asia), with a total sample size that can exceed 154.000 people.