It costs the world trillions in lost productivity, not to mention the human suffering and health loss; yet only 1% of the global health workforce provides mental health care. Mild-to-moderate anxiety and depression are the most common forms of mental ill health and cost the global economy $1.15 trillion in lost productivity every year, and the global economic burden of all mental health conditions is estimated to rise to $6 trillion a year by 2030.

The WHO expects depression, addiction, and stress-related diseases to join the top 5 health burdens by 2030. At any given time 1 person in 8 is afflicted by a mental illness, and suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people.

Mental health conditions are on the rise, yet in Western countries 2/3 of people with a mental health problem do not receive any treatment for it, and in the rest of the world hardly anyone does. The service coverage level is very low in most countries, and there is a wide gap between what is urgently needed and what is available.

Almost everywhere, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are scarce, and they often are the only people who states or insurers will pay to treat mental illness, so those who seek help must wait for months or even years for it if they get it at all. Private psychotherapy (including online) is expensive and not everyone can afford it and there is no magical way of creating more licensed psychotherapists to meet the demand.

Most mental illnesses are treatable, most suicides are preventable, but in many places, formal mental health services do not exist but even when they are available, they are often inaccessible or unaffordable. Drugs produce side effects; independent studies show that antidepressants have substantial benefit beyond placebo in only 15% of patients. Public healthcare is under resourced everywhere, the few available options are constrained by geographical location, and no other standard treatments exist.