The World Health Organization says up to 25 percent of the world’s population will require mental health care sometime in their lives.

Mental illnesses can include disorders linked to anxiety, eating, moods, psychosis, impulse control, addiction and personality.

“There is a substantial gap between the burden caused by mental health disorders and the resources available to prevent and treat them,” said Dr. Ala Alwan, Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.

The figures from the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011 indicate that average global spending on mental health is less than $3 per capita per year, and as little as 25 cents per person per year in low-income countries.

About 80 percent of people with serious mental disorders living in low and middle income countries do not receive mental health services that they need, he said.

The aim of Project Atlas, which began in 2000, is to distribute information about mental health resources in countries. The Atlas has previously been published in 2005 and 2001.

While the 2011 edition confirms findings from prior editions about insufficient resources remain, the shortage is not evenly distributed, as the gap between resources and burden is far larger in low income countries in comparison to high income countries, according to Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO.

About 80 percent of people with serious mental disorders living in low and middle income countries do not receive mental health services that they need, he said.

Who says only 36 percent of people living in low income countries are covered by health legislation, while the rate is at 92 percent in high income countries