Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries

Konstantinos N Fountoulakis; Gregory Karakatsoulis; Seri Abraham; Kristina Adorjan; Helal Uddin Ahmed; Renato D Alarcón; Kiyomi Arai; Sani Salihu Auwal; Michael Berk; Sarah Levaj; Julio Bobes; Teresa Bobes-Bascaran; Julie Bourgin-Duchesnay; Cristina Ana Bredicean; Laurynas Bukelskis; Akaki Burkadze; Indira Indiana Cabrera Abud; Ruby Castilla-Puentes; Marcelo Cetkovich; Hector Colon-Rivera; Ricardo Corral; Carla Cortez-Vergara; Piirika Crepin; Domenico De Berardis; Sergio Zamora Delgado; David De Lucena; Avinash De Sousa; Ramona Di Stefano; Seetal Dodd; Livia Priyanka Elek; Anna Elissa; Berta Erdelyi-Hamza; Gamze Erzin; Martin J Etchevers; Peter Falkai; Adriana Farcas; Ilya Fedotov; Viktoriia Filatova; Nikolaos K Fountoulakis; Iryna Frankova; Francesco Franza; Pedro Frias; Tatiana Galako; Cristian J Garay; Leticia Garcia-Álvarez; Maria Paz García-Portilla; Xenia Gonda; Tomasz M Gondek; Daniela Morera González; Hilary Gould; Paolo Grandinetti; Arturo Grau; Violeta Groudeva; Michal Hagin; Takayuki Harada; Tasdik M Hasan; Salmi Razali; Jan Hilbig; Sahadat Hossain; Rossitza Iakimova; Mona Ibrahim; Felicia Iftene; Yulia Ignatenko; Matias Irarrazaval; Zaliha Ismail; Jamila Ismayilova; Asaf Jakobs; Miro Jakovljević; Nenad Jakšić; Afzal Javed; Helin Yilmaz Kafali; Sagar Karia; Olga Kazakova; Doaa Khalifa; Olena Khaustova; Steve Koh; Svetlana Kopishinskaia; Korneliia Kosenko; Nikolett Beata Vadon; Alisha Lalljee; Justine Liewig; Abdul Majid; Evgeniia Malashonkova; Khamelia Malik; Najma Iqbal Malik; Gulay Mammadzada; Bilvesh Mandalia; Donatella Marazziti; Darko Marčinko; Stephanie Martinez; Eimantas Matiekus; Gabriela Mejia; Roha Saeed Memon; Xarah Elenne Meza Martínez; Dalia Mickevičiūtė; Roumen Milev; Muftau Mohammed; Alejandro Molina-López; Petr Morozov; Nuru Suleiman Muhammad; Filip Mustač; Mika S Naor; Amira Nassieb; Alvydas Navickas; Tarek Okasha; Milena Pandova; Anca-Livia Panfil; Liliya Panteleeva; Ion Papava; Alexey Pavlichenko; Bojana Pejuskovic; Mariana Pinto da Costa; Mikhail Popkov; Dina Popovic; Nor Jannah Nasution Raduan; Francisca Vargas Ramírez; Elmārs Rancāns; Nurul Azreen Hashim; Federico Rebok; Anna Rewekant; Elena Ninoska Reyes Flores; María Teresa Rivera-Encinas; Pilar Saiz; Manuel Sánchez de Carmona; David Saucedo Martínez; Jo Anne Saw; Görkem Saygili; Patricia Schneidereit; Bhumika Shah; Tomohiro Shirasaka; Ketevan Silagadze; Satti Sitanggang; Oleg Skugarevsky; Anna Spikina; Sridevi Sira Mahalingappa; Maria Stoyanova; Anna Szczegielniak; Simona Claudia Tamasan; Giuseppe Tavormina; Maurilio Giuseppe Maria Tavormina; Mauricio Tohen; Eva Maria Tsapakis; Dina Tukhvatullina; Irfan Ullah; Ratnaraj Vaidya; Johann M Vega-Dienstmaier; Jelena Vrublevska; Olivera Vukovic; Olga Vysotska; Natalia Widiasih; Anna Yashikhina; Daria Smirnova

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459

Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries

Konstantinos N Fountoulakis (Corresponding Author), Gregory Karakatsoulis, Seri Abraham, Kristina Adorjan, Helal Uddin Ahmed, Renato D Alarcón, Kiyomi Arai, Sani Salihu Auwal, Michael Berk, Sarah Levaj, Julio Bobes, Teresa Bobes-Bascaran, Julie Bourgin-Duchesnay, Cristina Ana Bredicean, Laurynas Bukelskis, Akaki Burkadze, Indira Indiana Cabrera Abud, Ruby Castilla-Puentes, Marcelo Cetkovich, Hector Colon-RiveraRicardo Corral, Carla Cortez-Vergara, Piirika Crepin, Domenico De Berardis, Sergio Zamora Delgado, David De Lucena, Avinash De Sousa, Ramona Di Stefano, Seetal Dodd, Livia Priyanka Elek, Anna Elissa, Berta Erdelyi-Hamza, Gamze Erzin, Martin J Etchevers, Peter Falkai, Adriana Farcas, Ilya Fedotov, Viktoriia Filatova, Nikolaos K Fountoulakis, Iryna Frankova, Francesco Franza, Pedro Frias, Tatiana Galako, Cristian J Garay, Leticia Garcia-Álvarez, Maria Paz García-Portilla, Xenia Gonda, Tomasz M Gondek, Daniela Morera González, Hilary Gould, Paolo Grandinetti, Arturo Grau, Violeta Groudeva, Michal Hagin, Takayuki Harada, Tasdik M Hasan, Salmi Razali, Jan Hilbig, Sahadat Hossain, Rossitza Iakimova, Mona Ibrahim, Felicia Iftene, Yulia Ignatenko, Matias Irarrazaval, Zaliha Ismail, Jamila Ismayilova, Asaf Jakobs, Miro Jakovljević, Nenad Jakšić, Afzal Javed, Helin Yilmaz Kafali, Sagar Karia, Olga Kazakova, Doaa Khalifa, Olena Khaustova, Steve Koh, Svetlana Kopishinskaia, Korneliia Kosenko, Nikolett Beata Vadon, Alisha Lalljee, Justine Liewig, Abdul Majid, Evgeniia Malashonkova, Khamelia Malik, Najma Iqbal Malik, Gulay Mammadzada, Bilvesh Mandalia, Donatella Marazziti, Darko Marčinko, Stephanie Martinez, Eimantas Matiekus, Gabriela Mejia, Roha Saeed Memon, Xarah Elenne Meza Martínez, Dalia Mickevičiūtė, Roumen Milev, Muftau Mohammed, Alejandro Molina-López, Petr Morozov, Nuru Suleiman Muhammad, Filip Mustač, Mika S Naor, Amira Nassieb, Alvydas Navickas, Tarek Okasha, Milena Pandova, Anca-Livia Panfil, Liliya Panteleeva, Ion Papava, Alexey Pavlichenko, Bojana Pejuskovic, Mariana Pinto da Costa, Mikhail Popkov, Dina Popovic, Nor Jannah Nasution Raduan, Francisca Vargas Ramírez, Elmārs Rancāns, Nurul Azreen Hashim, Federico Rebok, Anna Rewekant, Elena Ninoska Reyes Flores, María Teresa Rivera-Encinas, Pilar Saiz, Manuel Sánchez de Carmona, David Saucedo Martínez, Jo Anne Saw, Görkem Saygili, Patricia Schneidereit, Bhumika Shah, Tomohiro Shirasaka, Ketevan Silagadze, Satti Sitanggang, Oleg Skugarevsky, Anna Spikina, Sridevi Sira Mahalingappa, Maria Stoyanova, Anna Szczegielniak, Simona Claudia Tamasan, Giuseppe Tavormina, Maurilio Giuseppe Maria Tavormina, Mauricio Tohen, Eva Maria Tsapakis, Dina Tukhvatullina, Irfan Ullah, Ratnaraj Vaidya, Johann M Vega-Dienstmaier, Jelena Vrublevska, Olivera Vukovic, Olga Vysotska, Natalia Widiasih, Anna Yashikhina, Daria Smirnova

Department of Psychiatry and Narcology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This study registered rates of specific treatment options for mental disorders as well as their long-term outcome.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The history of mental disorders was used as a proxy for diagnosis. The data came from the COMET-G study (40 countries; 54,826 subjects, 64.73 % females, 35.45±13.51 years old). The analysis included descriptive statistics, Risk Ratios, t-tests, and ANCOVA's.

RESULTS: 24.14 % reported a history of any mental disorder (depression >12 %, non-affective psychosis and Bipolar disorder 1 % each, >20 % self-injury, >10 % had attempted suicide, 7.17 % illegal substance abuse). Most patients were not under any kind of treatment (59.44 %) and most were not receiving treatment as recommended (e.g. 90 % of Bipolar and 2/3 of psychotic patients). No treatment at all and psychotherapy as monotherapy were consistently related to poorer outcomes. In anxiety or depression, only antidepressant monotherapy and benzodiazepines, in Bipolar disorder only antipsychotic monotherapy in males and antidepressant monotherapy in females and in non-affective psychosis antipsychotics and psychotherapy in females only, were related to good outcomes. No treatment modality was related to a good outcome in those with a history of self-harm, suicidal attempts, or illegal substance use. Only depression and treatment with antidepressants were related to metabolic syndrome.

DISCUSSION: In the community, the overwhelming majority of mental patients do not receive appropriate treatment or, even worse, no treatment at all. The outcome is unfavourable for the majority and only a few selective treatment options seem to make a difference.

Original language	English
Article number	116459
Journal	Psychiatry Research
Volume	348
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

Field of Science*

3.2 Clinical medicine

Publication Type*

1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disordersFinal published version, 2.48 MBLicence: CC BY

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Fountoulakis, K. N., Karakatsoulis, G., Abraham, S., Adorjan, K., Ahmed, H. U., Alarcón, R. D., Arai, K., Auwal, S. S., Berk, M., Levaj, S., Bobes, J., Bobes-Bascaran, T., Bourgin-Duchesnay, J., Bredicean, C. A., Bukelskis, L., Burkadze, A., Abud, I. I. C., Castilla-Puentes, R., Cetkovich, M., ... Smirnova, D. (2025). Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries. Psychiatry Research, 348, Article 116459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459

@article{1a4741d15c8141b59b66418b55390a01,

title = "Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries",

abstract = "INTRODUCTION: This study registered rates of specific treatment options for mental disorders as well as their long-term outcome.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The history of mental disorders was used as a proxy for diagnosis. The data came from the COMET-G study (40 countries; 54,826 subjects, 64.73 \% females, 35.45±13.51 years old). The analysis included descriptive statistics, Risk Ratios, t-tests, and ANCOVA's.RESULTS: 24.14 \% reported a history of any mental disorder (depression >12 \%, non-affective psychosis and Bipolar disorder 1 \% each, >20 \% self-injury, >10 \% had attempted suicide, 7.17 \% illegal substance abuse). Most patients were not under any kind of treatment (59.44 \%) and most were not receiving treatment as recommended (e.g. 90 \% of Bipolar and 2/3 of psychotic patients). No treatment at all and psychotherapy as monotherapy were consistently related to poorer outcomes. In anxiety or depression, only antidepressant monotherapy and benzodiazepines, in Bipolar disorder only antipsychotic monotherapy in males and antidepressant monotherapy in females and in non-affective psychosis antipsychotics and psychotherapy in females only, were related to good outcomes. No treatment modality was related to a good outcome in those with a history of self-harm, suicidal attempts, or illegal substance use. Only depression and treatment with antidepressants were related to metabolic syndrome. DISCUSSION: In the community, the overwhelming majority of mental patients do not receive appropriate treatment or, even worse, no treatment at all. The outcome is unfavourable for the majority and only a few selective treatment options seem to make a difference.",

author = "Fountoulakis, \{Konstantinos N\} and Gregory Karakatsoulis and Seri Abraham and Kristina Adorjan and Ahmed, \{Helal Uddin\} and Alarc{\'o}n, \{Renato D\} and Kiyomi Arai and Auwal, \{Sani Salihu\} and Michael Berk and Sarah Levaj and Julio Bobes and Teresa Bobes-Bascaran and Julie Bourgin-Duchesnay and Bredicean, \{Cristina Ana\} and Laurynas Bukelskis and Akaki Burkadze and Abud, \{Indira Indiana Cabrera\} and Ruby Castilla-Puentes and Marcelo Cetkovich and Hector Colon-Rivera and Ricardo Corral and Carla Cortez-Vergara and Piirika Crepin and \{De Berardis\}, Domenico and Delgado, \{Sergio Zamora\} and \{De Lucena\}, David and \{De Sousa\}, Avinash and Stefano, \{Ramona Di\} and Seetal Dodd and Elek, \{Livia Priyanka\} and Anna Elissa and Berta Erdelyi-Hamza and Gamze Erzin and Etchevers, \{Martin J\} and Peter Falkai and Adriana Farcas and Ilya Fedotov and Viktoriia Filatova and Fountoulakis, \{Nikolaos K\} and Iryna Frankova and Francesco Franza and Pedro Frias and Tatiana Galako and Garay, \{Cristian J\} and Leticia Garcia-{\'A}lvarez and Garc{\'i}a-Portilla, \{Maria Paz\} and Xenia Gonda and Gondek, \{Tomasz M\} and Gonz{\'a}lez, \{Daniela Morera\} and Hilary Gould and Paolo Grandinetti and Arturo Grau and Violeta Groudeva and Michal Hagin and Takayuki Harada and Hasan, \{Tasdik M\} and Salmi Razali and Jan Hilbig and Sahadat Hossain and Rossitza Iakimova and Mona Ibrahim and Felicia Iftene and Yulia Ignatenko and Matias Irarrazaval and Zaliha Ismail and Jamila Ismayilova and Asaf Jakobs and Miro Jakovljevi{\'c} and Nenad Jak{\v s}i{\'c} and Afzal Javed and Kafali, \{Helin Yilmaz\} and Sagar Karia and Olga Kazakova and Doaa Khalifa and Olena Khaustova and Steve Koh and Svetlana Kopishinskaia and Korneliia Kosenko and Vadon, \{Nikolett Beata\} and Alisha Lalljee and Justine Liewig and Abdul Majid and Evgeniia Malashonkova and Khamelia Malik and Malik, \{Najma Iqbal\} and Gulay Mammadzada and Bilvesh Mandalia and Donatella Marazziti and Darko Mar{\v c}inko and Stephanie Martinez and Eimantas Matiekus and Gabriela Mejia and Memon, \{Roha Saeed\} and Mart{\'i}nez, \{Xarah Elenne Meza\} and Dalia Mickevi{\v c}iūtė and Roumen Milev and Muftau Mohammed and Alejandro Molina-L{\'o}pez and Petr Morozov and Muhammad, \{Nuru Suleiman\} and Filip Musta{\v c} and Naor, \{Mika S\} and Amira Nassieb and Alvydas Navickas and Tarek Okasha and Milena Pandova and Anca-Livia Panfil and Liliya Panteleeva and Ion Papava and Alexey Pavlichenko and Bojana Pejuskovic and \{da Costa\}, \{Mariana Pinto\} and Mikhail Popkov and Dina Popovic and Raduan, \{Nor Jannah Nasution\} and Ram{\'i}rez, \{Francisca Vargas\} and Elmārs Rancāns and Hashim, \{Nurul Azreen\} and Federico Rebok and Anna Rewekant and Flores, \{Elena Ninoska Reyes\} and Rivera-Encinas, \{Mar{\'i}a Teresa\} and Pilar Saiz and \{de Carmona\}, \{Manuel S{\'a}nchez\} and Mart{\'i}nez, \{David Saucedo\} and Saw, \{Jo Anne\} and G{\"o}rkem Saygili and Patricia Schneidereit and Bhumika Shah and Tomohiro Shirasaka and Ketevan Silagadze and Satti Sitanggang and Oleg Skugarevsky and Anna Spikina and Mahalingappa, \{Sridevi Sira\} and Maria Stoyanova and Anna Szczegielniak and Tamasan, \{Simona Claudia\} and Giuseppe Tavormina and Tavormina, \{Maurilio Giuseppe Maria\} and Mauricio Tohen and Tsapakis, \{Eva Maria\} and Dina Tukhvatullina and Irfan Ullah and Ratnaraj Vaidya and Vega-Dienstmaier, \{Johann M\} and Jelena Vrublevska and Olivera Vukovic and Olga Vysotska and Natalia Widiasih and Anna Yashikhina and Daria Smirnova",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459",

language = "English",

volume = "348",

journal = "Psychiatry Research",

issn = "0165-1781",

publisher = "Elsevier Ireland Ltd",

}

Fountoulakis, KN, Karakatsoulis, G, Abraham, S, Adorjan, K, Ahmed, HU, Alarcón, RD, Arai, K, Auwal, SS, Berk, M, Levaj, S, Bobes, J, Bobes-Bascaran, T, Bourgin-Duchesnay, J, Bredicean, CA, Bukelskis, L, Burkadze, A, Abud, IIC, Castilla-Puentes, R, Cetkovich, M, Colon-Rivera, H, Corral, R, Cortez-Vergara, C, Crepin, P, De Berardis, D, Delgado, SZ, De Lucena, D, De Sousa, A, Stefano, RD, Dodd, S, Elek, LP, Elissa, A, Erdelyi-Hamza, B, Erzin, G, Etchevers, MJ, Falkai, P, Farcas, A, Fedotov, I, Filatova, V, Fountoulakis, NK, Frankova, I, Franza, F, Frias, P, Galako, T, Garay, CJ, Garcia-Álvarez, L, García-Portilla, MP, Gonda, X, Gondek, TM, González, DM, Gould, H, Grandinetti, P, Grau, A, Groudeva, V, Hagin, M, Harada, T, Hasan, TM, Razali, S, Hilbig, J, Hossain, S, Iakimova, R, Ibrahim, M, Iftene, F, Ignatenko, Y, Irarrazaval, M, Ismail, Z, Ismayilova, J, Jakobs, A, Jakovljević, M, Jakšić, N, Javed, A, Kafali, HY, Karia, S, Kazakova, O, Khalifa, D, Khaustova, O, Koh, S, Kopishinskaia, S, Kosenko, K, Vadon, NB, Lalljee, A, Liewig, J, Majid, A, Malashonkova, E, Malik, K, Malik, NI, Mammadzada, G, Mandalia, B, Marazziti, D, Marčinko, D, Martinez, S, Matiekus, E, Mejia, G, Memon, RS, Martínez, XEM, Mickevičiūtė, D, Milev, R, Mohammed, M, Molina-López, A, Morozov, P, Muhammad, NS, Mustač, F, Naor, MS, Nassieb, A, Navickas, A, Okasha, T, Pandova, M, Panfil, A-L, Panteleeva, L, Papava, I, Pavlichenko, A, Pejuskovic, B, da Costa, MP, Popkov, M, Popovic, D, Raduan, NJN, Ramírez, FV, Rancāns, E, Hashim, NA, Rebok, F, Rewekant, A, Flores, ENR, Rivera-Encinas, MT, Saiz, P, de Carmona, MS, Martínez, DS, Saw, JA, Saygili, G, Schneidereit, P, Shah, B, Shirasaka, T, Silagadze, K, Sitanggang, S, Skugarevsky, O, Spikina, A, Mahalingappa, SS, Stoyanova, M, Szczegielniak, A, Tamasan, SC, Tavormina, G, Tavormina, MGM, Tohen, M, Tsapakis, EM, Tukhvatullina, D, Ullah, I, Vaidya, R, Vega-Dienstmaier, JM, Vrublevska, J, Vukovic, O, Vysotska, O, Widiasih, N, Yashikhina, A & Smirnova, D 2025, 'Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries', Psychiatry Research, vol. 348, 116459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459

Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries. / Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N (Corresponding Author); Karakatsoulis, Gregory; Abraham, Seri et al.
In: Psychiatry Research, Vol. 348, 116459, 06.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders

T2 - The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries

AU - Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N

AU - Karakatsoulis, Gregory

AU - Abraham, Seri

AU - Adorjan, Kristina

AU - Ahmed, Helal Uddin

AU - Alarcón, Renato D

AU - Arai, Kiyomi

AU - Auwal, Sani Salihu

AU - Berk, Michael

AU - Levaj, Sarah

AU - Bobes, Julio

AU - Bobes-Bascaran, Teresa

AU - Bourgin-Duchesnay, Julie

AU - Bredicean, Cristina Ana

AU - Bukelskis, Laurynas

AU - Burkadze, Akaki

AU - Abud, Indira Indiana Cabrera

AU - Castilla-Puentes, Ruby

AU - Cetkovich, Marcelo

AU - Colon-Rivera, Hector

AU - Corral, Ricardo

AU - Cortez-Vergara, Carla

AU - Crepin, Piirika

AU - De Berardis, Domenico

AU - Delgado, Sergio Zamora

AU - De Lucena, David

AU - De Sousa, Avinash

AU - Stefano, Ramona Di

AU - Dodd, Seetal

AU - Elek, Livia Priyanka

AU - Elissa, Anna

AU - Erdelyi-Hamza, Berta

AU - Erzin, Gamze

AU - Etchevers, Martin J

AU - Falkai, Peter

AU - Farcas, Adriana

AU - Fedotov, Ilya

AU - Filatova, Viktoriia

AU - Fountoulakis, Nikolaos K

AU - Frankova, Iryna

AU - Franza, Francesco

AU - Frias, Pedro

AU - Galako, Tatiana

AU - Garay, Cristian J

AU - Garcia-Álvarez, Leticia

AU - García-Portilla, Maria Paz

AU - Gonda, Xenia

AU - Gondek, Tomasz M

AU - González, Daniela Morera

AU - Gould, Hilary

AU - Grandinetti, Paolo

AU - Grau, Arturo

AU - Groudeva, Violeta

AU - Hagin, Michal

AU - Harada, Takayuki

AU - Hasan, Tasdik M

AU - Razali, Salmi

AU - Hilbig, Jan

AU - Hossain, Sahadat

AU - Iakimova, Rossitza

AU - Ibrahim, Mona

AU - Iftene, Felicia

AU - Ignatenko, Yulia

AU - Irarrazaval, Matias

AU - Ismail, Zaliha

AU - Ismayilova, Jamila

AU - Jakobs, Asaf

AU - Jakovljević, Miro

AU - Jakšić, Nenad

AU - Javed, Afzal

AU - Kafali, Helin Yilmaz

AU - Karia, Sagar

AU - Kazakova, Olga

AU - Khalifa, Doaa

AU - Khaustova, Olena

AU - Koh, Steve

AU - Kopishinskaia, Svetlana

AU - Kosenko, Korneliia

AU - Vadon, Nikolett Beata

AU - Lalljee, Alisha

AU - Liewig, Justine

AU - Majid, Abdul

AU - Malashonkova, Evgeniia

AU - Malik, Khamelia

AU - Malik, Najma Iqbal

AU - Mammadzada, Gulay

AU - Mandalia, Bilvesh

AU - Marazziti, Donatella

AU - Marčinko, Darko

AU - Martinez, Stephanie

AU - Matiekus, Eimantas

AU - Mejia, Gabriela

AU - Memon, Roha Saeed

AU - Martínez, Xarah Elenne Meza

AU - Mickevičiūtė, Dalia

AU - Milev, Roumen

AU - Mohammed, Muftau

AU - Molina-López, Alejandro

AU - Morozov, Petr

AU - Muhammad, Nuru Suleiman

AU - Mustač, Filip

AU - Naor, Mika S

AU - Nassieb, Amira

AU - Navickas, Alvydas

AU - Okasha, Tarek

AU - Pandova, Milena

AU - Panfil, Anca-Livia

AU - Panteleeva, Liliya

AU - Papava, Ion

AU - Pavlichenko, Alexey

AU - Pejuskovic, Bojana

AU - da Costa, Mariana Pinto

AU - Popkov, Mikhail

AU - Popovic, Dina

AU - Raduan, Nor Jannah Nasution

AU - Ramírez, Francisca Vargas

AU - Rancāns, Elmārs

AU - Hashim, Nurul Azreen

AU - Rebok, Federico

AU - Rewekant, Anna

AU - Flores, Elena Ninoska Reyes

AU - Rivera-Encinas, María Teresa

AU - Saiz, Pilar

AU - de Carmona, Manuel Sánchez

AU - Martínez, David Saucedo

AU - Saw, Jo Anne

AU - Saygili, Görkem

AU - Schneidereit, Patricia

AU - Shah, Bhumika

AU - Shirasaka, Tomohiro

AU - Silagadze, Ketevan

AU - Sitanggang, Satti

AU - Skugarevsky, Oleg

AU - Spikina, Anna

AU - Mahalingappa, Sridevi Sira

AU - Stoyanova, Maria

AU - Szczegielniak, Anna

AU - Tamasan, Simona Claudia

AU - Tavormina, Giuseppe

AU - Tavormina, Maurilio Giuseppe Maria

AU - Tohen, Mauricio

AU - Tsapakis, Eva Maria

AU - Tukhvatullina, Dina

AU - Ullah, Irfan

AU - Vaidya, Ratnaraj

AU - Vega-Dienstmaier, Johann M

AU - Vrublevska, Jelena

AU - Vukovic, Olivera

AU - Vysotska, Olga

AU - Widiasih, Natalia

AU - Yashikhina, Anna

AU - Smirnova, Daria

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - INTRODUCTION: This study registered rates of specific treatment options for mental disorders as well as their long-term outcome.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The history of mental disorders was used as a proxy for diagnosis. The data came from the COMET-G study (40 countries; 54,826 subjects, 64.73 % females, 35.45±13.51 years old). The analysis included descriptive statistics, Risk Ratios, t-tests, and ANCOVA's.RESULTS: 24.14 % reported a history of any mental disorder (depression >12 %, non-affective psychosis and Bipolar disorder 1 % each, >20 % self-injury, >10 % had attempted suicide, 7.17 % illegal substance abuse). Most patients were not under any kind of treatment (59.44 %) and most were not receiving treatment as recommended (e.g. 90 % of Bipolar and 2/3 of psychotic patients). No treatment at all and psychotherapy as monotherapy were consistently related to poorer outcomes. In anxiety or depression, only antidepressant monotherapy and benzodiazepines, in Bipolar disorder only antipsychotic monotherapy in males and antidepressant monotherapy in females and in non-affective psychosis antipsychotics and psychotherapy in females only, were related to good outcomes. No treatment modality was related to a good outcome in those with a history of self-harm, suicidal attempts, or illegal substance use. Only depression and treatment with antidepressants were related to metabolic syndrome. DISCUSSION: In the community, the overwhelming majority of mental patients do not receive appropriate treatment or, even worse, no treatment at all. The outcome is unfavourable for the majority and only a few selective treatment options seem to make a difference.

AB - INTRODUCTION: This study registered rates of specific treatment options for mental disorders as well as their long-term outcome.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The history of mental disorders was used as a proxy for diagnosis. The data came from the COMET-G study (40 countries; 54,826 subjects, 64.73 % females, 35.45±13.51 years old). The analysis included descriptive statistics, Risk Ratios, t-tests, and ANCOVA's.RESULTS: 24.14 % reported a history of any mental disorder (depression >12 %, non-affective psychosis and Bipolar disorder 1 % each, >20 % self-injury, >10 % had attempted suicide, 7.17 % illegal substance abuse). Most patients were not under any kind of treatment (59.44 %) and most were not receiving treatment as recommended (e.g. 90 % of Bipolar and 2/3 of psychotic patients). No treatment at all and psychotherapy as monotherapy were consistently related to poorer outcomes. In anxiety or depression, only antidepressant monotherapy and benzodiazepines, in Bipolar disorder only antipsychotic monotherapy in males and antidepressant monotherapy in females and in non-affective psychosis antipsychotics and psychotherapy in females only, were related to good outcomes. No treatment modality was related to a good outcome in those with a history of self-harm, suicidal attempts, or illegal substance use. Only depression and treatment with antidepressants were related to metabolic syndrome. DISCUSSION: In the community, the overwhelming majority of mental patients do not receive appropriate treatment or, even worse, no treatment at all. The outcome is unfavourable for the majority and only a few selective treatment options seem to make a difference.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105001588925&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459

DO - 10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116459

M3 - Article

C2 - 40179636

SN - 0165-1781

VL - 348

JO - Psychiatry Research

JF - Psychiatry Research

M1 - 116459

ER -

Treatment and long-term outcome of mental disorders: The grim picture from a quasi-epidemiological investigation in 54,826 subjects from 40 countries

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UN SDGs

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