Youth in Mental Health Series

• Mental health is the leading cause of disability worldwide?
• Every 40 seconds someone in the world takes their own life?
• Over 75% of mental health conditions manifest themselves by the age of 24?
• Cities have the highest prevalence rates of mental illness?
•  By 2030 depression alone will become the largest cause of disability worldwide?          

The above facts may be surprising to many, if not most; many of us do not really comprehend the magnitude of the mental health burden in society. This is attributable to the fact that there’s still a lot of stigma surrounding mental health and as is expected, information on this topic is limited. The new UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) have put young people at the centre of the Agenda; In this series, I will explore the youth mental health burden in Sub Saharan Africa. I will also simplify some of the available information including an introduction to the SDGs ( in the local context) and their relation to mental health as well as other mental health policy documents in a 'youth-friendly' manner. This series also seeks to highlight the different efforts put in place to address youth mental health in various contexts.