Anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders are a reality for thousands of people in Cyprus.
On the occasion of this year's World Mental Health Day (October 10), the international data of the World Health Organization (WHO), the European records and the picture presented in Cyprus and the EU highlight the extent of the needs, but also the difficulties in accessing appropriate care.
This year's WHO message focuses on involving people with mental health problems themselves in the decisions that affect them.
An approach that acquires particular importance in Cyprus, since just a month ago, in the Parliament, serious problems in the management of psychiatric cases, staff shortages and legislative gaps were recorded.
Over a billion people
Internationally, according to data released yesterday by the WHO, in 2025, more than a billion people were living with a mental health disorder, many without receiving the necessary care.
Despite the extent of the problem, funding remains limited today. On average, just 2% of state health budgets are allocated to mental health, a figure that has remained unchanged since 2017.
According to the Mental Health Atlas 2024, which includes data from 144 countries, the transition from long-term institutional care to community-based services is progressing slowly. Only 9% of countries have completed the process, while 53% are still in the early stages.
Patient involvement in service design also remains limited. Only 45% of the countries that responded to the question reported systematic cooperation with organizations of people who have personal experience of mental health problems and their families. Even lower, at 37%, is the percentage of countries that include such people in the training of primary care professionals.
At the European level, according to the European Commission, more than one in five people in the EU experience mental health disorders.
Eurostat data for 2023, published in September 2026, record 48,370 deaths by suicide in the EU, with an average rate of 10.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. Cyprus had the lowest rate among member states, with 3.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Cyprus: Elements and shortcomings
At the national level, the data listed in the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Health 2026 – 2028 show that anxiety disorders affect 7.2% of the population and depressive disorders 3.8%. Disorders related to alcohol and drug use are estimated at 2.6%, compared to 3.4% in the EU.
At the same time, as reported very recently before the Parliamentary Committee on Health by stakeholders, Cyprus allocates only 3% of health expenditure to mental health, compared to 6% reported as the European average.
In the same debates in Parliament, serious difficulties were highlighted in the management of people in need of compulsory psychiatric hospitalization.
Incidents of transporting patients, even children, with patrol cars from city to city, delays in their receipt by the competent Services and cases of their stay in police detention centers were reported.
These problems were the subject of an inter-ministerial meeting in September, during which it was decided to promote legislative amendments on the procedures for the transport, receipt and delivery of psychiatric cases.
