38% of Europeans affected by mental disease

Arguably, one of the most profound findings of 2011 was an epidemiological report on the mental health status of the European Union. Hans-Ulrich Wittchen and his international team of mental health experts have unraveled striking data on just how extensively disorders of the brain impact European society, and if the trend has been changing over the last three decades.   

With an initial goal to systematically assess the prevalence and burden of neurological and mental disorders in the European Union, experts from each disease category met and combined their data, only to find that it was difficult to segregate prevalence between mental and neurological disorders, due to significant overlap. However, it was possible to assess the burden of mental and neurological disease separately, when expressed as disability adjusted life years. Previous knowledge on this subject has been sparse - the World Health Organization reported an estimated 13% of global health burden to be from mental disorders. The World Mental Health Survey quotes that one in three adults suffers from a mental disorder.

Mental and Neurological Disorders Come to the Forefront: Significant Health Burden on Society

Wittchen and colleagues set out to sample all of the EU countries as well as Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland. The team combined retrospective studies, consistent reanalyses of existing epidemiological datasets and supplementary survey data from national experts to gather the best possible comprehensive dataset. 19 epidemiological panels were dispatched and at least one international expert was recruited per diagnostic group. Data was collected as far back as 1980, when the first diagnostic criteria were published on an international level (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)).
The results were startling: 38% of all Europeans are affected by disorders of the brain. Combined, mental and neurological diseases comprise Europe's largest disease burden, in terms of disability adjusted life years. The highest proportion of this burden was due to anxiety disorder, unipolar depression and insomnia.
Previously, Wittchen and colleagues had published a similar report in 2005, where the numbers were significantly more conservative, citing that 27% of the EU population are affected by mental disorder. However, this study produced a much more restrictive estimate due to age restrictions of the sample (only adults and not kids nor elderly were included), and a much more limited set of criteria for mental disorders. This time around, the team decided to get an unrestricted estimate regardless of age range or disease type.

Wittchen et al., Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol, 2011
Wittchen and Jacobi, Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol, 2005
World Health Organization, The Global Burden of Disease, 2004 Update (WHO, 2008)


By Gina Eom, Alumna MedNeuro 

this article originally appeared in CNS Volume 5, Issue 1, Mental Health Disorders

Attention: Driverless Bus Crossing!

A silent humming can be heard these days, when you walk around Charité. And you should watch carefully, when you hear it: Currently, BVG and Charité are testing autonomous busses on our campus! But even if you cross the street absorbed in thought, you won’t be knocked over: The busses have an integrated system that makes them stop as soon as they detect any object crossing their way.

Currently, four driverless shuttles operate at a maximum speed of 20 km/h on defined routes with fixed stops in the two clinic premises Campus Mitte and Campus Virchow. The pilot phase is part of the “Stimulate" project by the Institute for Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Sciences, which aims to answer what options autonomous minibuses offer for future public transport and how driverless vehicles are accepted by users. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Charité provides the infrastructure, and BVG is responsible vehicle operation.

Ligier EZ-10 autonomous electric minishuttle, via Wikimedia Commons

According to Charité and BVG, the two Charité locations in Mitte and Wedding are particularly well-suited, as they represent a sufficiently large test area, separated from public roads. In addition, there are sidewalks, intersections and road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks, buses and ambulances. Thus they are like "a small image of our city," said Charité CEO Einhäupl. "First, the shuttles have to learn the routes," said BVG board member Henrik Haenecke. The shuttles orient themselves with the help of laser and radar that detect the environment. Only remote monitoring is provided and passengers will not be able to intervene in the steering system. Only braking maneuvers will be allowed.
"We hope that the project will enable us to expand the existing transport offer for our patients, visitors, employees and students in the future," said Einhäupl. According to a Charité press release from last year, passengers are allowed to board from the second quarter of 2018. At first there will be staff on board who can intervene in case of problems. From 2019, the minibuses should operate without accompaniment.

Claudia Willmes
PhD Alumna, AG Eickholt / AG Schmitz

source: Gemeinsame Pressemitteilung von BVG, Charité und Land Berlin

(Available only in German)