The cost of mental health: Where do we stand in France?

Mental disorders often begin early in life and constitute five of the top ten causes of disability. Their total cost across Europe is estimated at more than 4% of GDP (more than euro 600 billion). The last study investigating the cost of mental disorders in France by our group was based on data from 2007 and yielded an estimated indirect and direct cost of euro 109 billions. The objective of this study was thus to provide an overall updated cost of mental health in France ten years later and before the COVID-19 pandemic. We estimated the costs related to the direct healthcare and medico-social system, loss of productivity and loss of quality of life. We conducted a literature search to identify direct healthcare, medico-social, indirect (loss of productivity and income compensation) and loss of quality of life during 2018. We included costs related to major psychiatric disorders, including autism and intellectual disability, but excluded the costs related to dementia. Our estimate of the total cost of mental disorders in France, including medical (14%), social (8%), indirect (27%) and loss of quality of life (51%), was euro 163 billions in 2018. This total cost includes money spend, forgone earnings and DALYs lost. We found a 50% increase in costs relative to our previous 2007 study. Large-scale cost-effective interventions such as specialized consultations or the development of ambulatory care could help decrease direct healthcare costs related to hospitalization and productivity loss while greatly improving the quality of life of patients.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Mental disorders often start early in life and are a significant cause of disability. In Europe, the total cost of mental disorders is estimated to be more than 4% of GDP (over 600 billion euros). This study aimed to provide an updated overall cost of mental health in France, excluding dementia, ten years after a previous study.