A Call for Collaborative Action to Tackle Major Depressive Disorder amongst Europe’s Citizens

Today marks the start of European Mental Health Week. Its theme ‘Better Together: Co-Creating the Future of Mental Health’ reinforces the need for collaborative innovation to address the scale of future mental health challenges. Given Europe's rapidly ageing population and the fact that one in three of us will be over 65 years old by 2100, major depressive disorder (MDD) cannot be ignored among our elderly communities. 

We know that rates of MDD increase with older age and health outcomes are worse when compared to younger adults. Alongside this, data suggests that MDD in the elderly can lead to higher rates of morbidity and mortality, increased healthcare utilisation, and economic costs. 

Through my work, I’ve seen the impact of how MDD is often undiagnosed and undertreated in older people due to its non-specific symptoms – largely due to the confusion with other comorbidities, such as heart disease, diabetes, or neurocognitive disorders. While these conditions may contribute to the onset of MDD, what’s compelling for me is that MDD also acts in a bidirectional manner increasing the risk and progression of these comorbidities.

All these aspects are compounded by the fact that only 30-40% of people living with MDD achieve remission after being prescribed an initial antidepressant treatment. Interestingly, senior citizens with severe MDD seem to have poorer response rates to treatment compared to younger patients.

So, how can we reinvent the future of mental health care for young and old alike? What's clear to me is that this is complex, and no single entity has all the solutions. Only by working together can we truly innovate and find solutions. Such collaborative innovation mirrors a spider’s web and its intricacy of interconnecting strands – each is a critical building block but ultimately, they’re dependent on the other.

I genuinely believe that combining the expertise of all stakeholders across the mental health community, including individuals with lived experience, can lead to more effective problem-solving, peer learning, and shared purpose. We mustn’t forget the invaluable lesson from COVID-19 – that multi-sectoral, global partnerships can provide exponential impact and results.

At J&J, our ambition is to ensure a future where we can alter the trajectory of nervous system disorders and eliminate the burden they place on global health. Working hand in hand with patient advocacy organisations such as GAMIAN-Europe and EUFAMI we aim to break down barriers to accelerate change through initiatives like Breaking Depression. In our partnership with the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) ‘New Frontiers’ initiative, we are working on a new consensus roadmap to design a new diagnostic framework for mental health disorders to help collectively evolve how we approach mental health treatment. 

I’d welcome your thoughts on how we can collaborate to create a brighter mental health future.    

#EuropeanMentalHealthWeek #MentalHealthAwareness