What Mental Health and Nutrition Experts Want You to Know

Mood and anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders.
Hundreds of millions of people suffer from them yearly.
Approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will have Depression/Anxiety in their lifetime.
Even though Depression and Anxiety are common, treatment is often lacking due to a lack of healthcare professionals educated on the matter and people not willing to seek help.
The healthcare system can treat Depression and Anxiety, and the healthcare system can reduce the symptoms.
Basic activities that people do are often difficult for people struggling with Depression and Anxiety.
Medication and therapy are often the first lines of defense in Depression/Anxiety protocols.
Mood disorders have been linked to increased inflammation, which also presents a correlation through which poor diet could increase the risk of depression.
a recent study found that the ingestion of probiotics (good bacteria) by healthy people can change the brain’s response to a function that requires emotional attention and may even have a reduction in symptoms of depression.
Clinical studies have also shown potential effects of refined carbohydrates on mood; diets with a high glycemic load (high blood sugar) increases depressive symptoms in healthy individuals.

You may be wondering why women are more likely to struggle with Depression and Anxiety than men. Part of it may be due to the constant hormonal fluctuations women experience throughout their lifetime. Women also have different brain chemistry, and the effects of the estrogen cycle on women may differ in men, which is why men may not experience mood disorders and Anxiety at the same rate as women. Women are often more sensitive to social relationships, and men are affected by careers and goals.

Here are some stats and graphs on mental health disorders:

Mental disorders in Canada, 2022 (statcan.gc.ca)

References:

Dattani, S., Rodés-Guirao, L., Ritchie, H., Roser, M., (2023) - "Mental Health" Published online at OurWorldinData.org.
Albert P. R. (2015). Why is depression more prevalent in women?. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 40(4), 219–221.
Firth, J., Gangwisch, J. E., Borisini, A., Wootton, R. E., & Mayer, E. A. (2020). Food and mood: how do diet and nutrition affect mental wellbeing?. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 369, m2382.