数百万有心理健康疾病的人们得到很少或没有得到治疗

Millions with Mental Health Get Little or No Treatment 数百万有心理健康疾病的人们得到很少或没有得到治疗

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report.

The World Health Organization reports that hundreds of millions of people have a mental health disorder¹, but receive little or no treatment.

A new WHO report finds that very little of the money spent on health care goes to treating those with mental conditions.

The WHO’s Mental Health Atlas² 2014 is the most complete look at the state of mental health around the world. It contains data from 171 countries, representing 95 percent of the world's population.

The Atlas says that mental conditions are responsible for about 10 percent of the world's health burden; in other words, 10 percent of all people have a mental disorder. However, only one percent of the health care workforce³ worldwide is working in mental health. 

The report finds every country, area, age group and part of society suffers greatly from mental disorders⁴. Yet, it says, total spending on mental health is extremely low. It also says very few nurses and other health care specialists want to work in the mental health field.

Anyone can suffer from mental illness

People of all levels of society can suffer from mental illness. However, the Atlas finds that the financial and health care divide between poor and rich countries is very wide.

The report says there is, on average, one mental health care provider for every 100,000 people in poor and middle-income countries. The ratio in wealthy countries is one per 2,000 people.

Worldwide spending on mental health also is very low. The report notes poor countries spend less than $2 per person each year on mental health, compared to more than $50 in wealthy countries.

Mental illness still has a stigma⁵ attached to it

Shekhar Saxena is the director of WHO's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. He tells VOA that communities and countries do not pay enough attention to mental health problems. He says this is because there is a stigma, a feeling of dishonor, tied to mental illness.

Mr. Saxena says many people do not want to talk about their problems. They might fear losing the respect of others or losing their jobs and relationships. He adds that there is also a misunderstanding that nothing can be done to treat mental illness.

"There is a misconception that once a person is mentally ill, the person will be always mentally ill and nothing much can be done about it, which is far from the truth. WHO's documents have very clearly highlighted the fact that largely mental disorders are treatable. People can become all right — completely all right or partially⁶ all right --- can go back to their job, can look after their normal roles and functioning in a very satisfactory way."

The WHO says mental health disorders are continuing to grow. They estimate that one in four people have a problem at some point in his or her life. The WHO warns health systems are failing to meet the needs of these people. And that failure to help people, it says, is having serious after-effects.

The WHO warns that depression will be the leading cause of disease burden by 2030.

Data from the Mental Health Atlas 2014 show 900,000 people took their own life each year.

The report says suicide⁷ is the second most common cause of death among young people. It finds three out of four people with severe mental disorders receive no treatment. It also says people with mental health problems suffer a wide range of human rights violations⁸.  

The WHO says it is better to treat people with mental disorders in a small, community-based environment instead of something larger. Unfortunately, the organization notes that the majority of spending — about 82 percent — goes to large mental hospitals. These hospitals serve a small amount of those who need mental health care.

Words in This Story

data – n. facts and statistics⁹ collected together for comparison or study

burden – n. something oppressive or worrisome

ratio – n. the relationship in quantity, amount, or size between two or more things

stigma – n. a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something

misconception – n. a misunderstanding; an opinion that is incorrect because it is based on a lack of understanding or poor reasoning

1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

6 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

7 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

9 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。