Mental health issues cause an enormous amount of suffering on a global scale, and could be just as promising a target for charitable intervention as many other effective altruist cause areas.
EA forum –
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/topics/mental-health-cause-area
Further detail
Mental health problems are conditions such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia. It is unclear precisely what percent of the DALY burden worldwide they represent. While some research has indicated they make up about 7% of the worldwide DALY burden, other researchers have suggested that the 7% figure may underestimate the true burden of mental health in a variety of ways, and that the actual figure may be nearly double that.[1]
Mental health problems are typically neglected, particularly in the developing world, and there are very few charities working in the area. Giving What We Can conducted an evaluation of Basic Needs, a charity that implements community-based mental health projects, concluding that it was promising but not as cost-effective as GiveWell ’s recommended charities.[2]
Some people care about making everyone happier and more satisfied with their life, over and above treating medical disorders. A few members of the effective altruism community have argued that interventions aimed at increasing happiness may be more cost-effective than global poverty interventions.[3]
Here is a link to an interesting post from Michael Plant going into some detail on his assessment of why Mental Health is such an important cause area to focus on –
https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/cause-profile-mental-health/
I argue that mental illness may be one of the world’s most pressing problems.Here is a summary of the key points:I argue that mental illness may be one of the world’s most pressing problems.
Here is a summary of the key points:
While mental health has the most obvious appeal for those who believe we ought to be maximising the happiness of people alive today, I explain that belief isn’t necessary to conclude it is of the highest priority: someone could, in principle, value what happens to all possible sentient life and still reasonably decide this cause is where they’ll do the most good. I raise, but do not seek to resolve, the many crucial considerations here.
Not only does mental illness seem to cause as much, if not more, total worldwide unhappiness than global poverty, it also seems far more neglected.
Effective mental health interventions exist currently. These have been improving over time and we can expect further improvements.
I estimate the cost-effectiveness of a particular mental health organisation, StrongMinds, and claim it is (at least) four times more effective per dollar than GiveDirectly, a GiveWell recommended top charity. This assumes we understand cost-effectiveness in terms of happiness, as measured by self-reported life satisfaction.
I explain why it’s unclear if StrongMinds is better than all the other GiveWell recommended life-improving charities (due to inconsistent evidence regarding negative spillovers from wealth increases) and life-saving charities (due to methodological issues about where on a 0-10 life satisfaction scale is the ‘neutral point’ equivalent to being dead).
I make some initial suggestions for the highest-impact careers, as well as alternative donation opportunities. No thorough analysis has yet been done to compare these.
And this from probablygood.org
Struggles with mental health affect close to a billion people around the world, but receive far less attention and support than other global health issues, especially in low-income regions.
Conditions like depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia can deeply disrupt daily life, even if their effects aren’t always visible. Mental illness is a leading contributor to suffering and lost well-being, surpassing even poverty and physical illness according to the World Happiness Report. In 2019 alone, mental disorders caused the loss of over 125 million years of healthy life, which is nearly half the burden of cancer.
What can we do about it? The road to improving mental health is complex, but there arepromising solutions. While therapy and medication can be highly effective, they’re often expensive and inaccessible, especially in low-income settings.That’s why it’s exciting to see organizations like Kaya Guides, Vida Plena, and StrongMinds are developing approaches designed to scale. These include self-guided mental health tools and group-based programs that can reach far more people at lower cost. For instance, StrongMinds delivers group therapy for women in sub-Saharan Africa, while Kaya Guides offers structured mental health support via WhatsApp.
If you’re interested in working on mental health as a cause area, supporting these kinds of scalable and accessible approaches could be a powerful way to make a difference, whether through funding, policy advocacy, or direct work in the field.
For a deeper dive, check out our full impact-focused overview of mental health.
