10 October 2022
Bilbao Campus
People’s mental health is affected by the turbulent events affecting us today. According to the WHO, it is estimated that 15 per cent of the world’s working age adults have a mental disorder, costing the global economy around $1 trillion. Anxiety disorders and depression increased by more than 25% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a global crisis for mental health, fuelling short- and long-term stress and undermining the mental health of millions of people. During 2021, 84 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced and this circumstance will have its impact on their mental health. Millions of people of all ages around the world continue to be discriminated against on the basis of social inequality, gender or race, hindering their social and occupational inclusion and taking a toll on their mental health.
There is a clear need to put mental wellbeing at the centre of our priorities. Thus, every October 10th, the World Health Organization (WHO) organizes the World Mental Health Day and this year the theme is ‘Make mental health & wellbeing for all a global priority’.
From the University of Deusto, we highlight the importance of researching on the well-being promotion, mental disorders’ prevention and intervention programmes from an integrated perspective to improve the health and well-being of citizens.
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Health Science at the University of Deusto design innovative training courses and conduct transformative research to promote well-being and prevent mental disorders. Some of the work includes the evaluation of brain structure and function in neuropsychiatric patients, risk factors and preventive interventions in depression, neuro-functional correlates in Parkinson’s disease, cognitive rehabilitation in psychosis and schizophrenia.
As an example of this, Aligned with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, research teams from the University of Deusto has contributed to the analysis of health habits and autonomy in the elderly and development of data analysis techniques to derive new models of wellness (SONOPA), evaluation of mental health programmes and personal health data treatment in biomedical research.
Learn about the lines of research and the work carried out by the research groups of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Deusto
