One in four Iranians affected by mental disorders

“In Iran, there is no law that considers and addresses issues related to psychiatric disorders,” said Vahid Shariat, the President of the Iranian Psychiatric Association in an interview with ILNA news agency.

The latest data was gathered from a nationwide study conducted over the past three years by the Ministry of Health. Shariat said Iran lacks basic provisions for mental illness.

He criticized policymakers, the Ministry of Health, and the Welfare Organization for their neglect, saying, the limited and poorly implemented mental health support package offers only a handful of medications and psychiatric services.

“There is no political will to find solutions, and there is no receptive ear to listen to the problems of individuals with severe mental illness,” he said.

Currently, the system only allows up to 54 hospitalization days per year for psychiatric care. If patients require additional care, they must bear the financial burden themselves, making long-term treatment inaccessible for many as one third of Iranians now live below the poverty line.

In November, Alireza Zali, President of Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran said that mental illness ranks second only to musculoskeletal disorders as the most common health issue in the country.

The latest research supports figures published in 2021 in the Iranian Journal of Psychology. It also cited one in four Iranians suffered with mental disorders.

"The Iranian Mental Health Survey (IranMHS) indicated that almost 1 in 4 people had one or more psychiatric disorders (23.6%); however, two-thirds of patients did not benefit from health interventions, many provided services were inadequate and imposed a high burden on Iranian families," researchers wrote, calling for intervention.

A 2019 study in The Lancet found that depressive and anxiety disorders are among the country's top 10 causes of death and disability, according to the study called 'Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study'.

Tehran was found to have the highest incidences with almost 37.1% of residents suffering mental health problems (45.0% of women and 28.0% of men).

The research found the greatest incidence of mental health disorders was seen in the 25–34 and over 75 age groups.

The most common mental health disorders were depression (43%) and anxiety (40%), followed by somatization (30%) and social dysfunction (8.1%). Mental health disorders were more frequent in the southeast regions of the city, researchers said.