The Big Question: Can we really afford not to invest in mental health care?

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) one in eight people in the world are living with a mental disorder. 

By comparison, that’s much more people than are diagnosed with breast cancer. One in 12 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

And, while not all mental health conditions are life-threatening, some of the most prevalent serious mental conditions such as schizophrenia (one in 300 people are affected) are among the leading causes globally of disability. 

On average, countries dedicate less than 2% of their healthcare budgets to mental health, without considering the financial impact underfunding care has on business and the economy.

In this episode of The Big Question, Nedim Pipic, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Mental Health at Boehringer Ingelheim sat down with Hannah Brown to discuss why we have to invest in mental health. 

Most of us agree that we all deserve a happy and healthy life, but in a world driven by profits, is there a business case for better investment in mental health?

“Investments in mental health are not just in that area, if we do that well, it's an investment in society, it's an investment in our economy, and it's also an investment for all those affected,” Nedim told The Big Question.

In fact, the stats to back it up are even more shocking than you might realise. 

Currently, across the world we are losing around $2.5tn (€2.3tn) per year due to poor mental health and productivity decline. 

Even something that seems as simple as a staff member taking sick leave can eventually cascade into a decline in business revenue linked to reputation loss and customer churn.

And if we don’t do something about it soon, we’re on track for the global losses to grow to $6tn (€5.4tn) by 2030 - a