Sep 23, 2026 05:56 PM
(This post was last modified: Sep 23, 2026 06:18 PM by C C.)
https://www.psypost.org/mental-health-co...ecade-ago/
EXCERPTS: Researchers tracking mental health in the Netherlands noticed a concerning trend leading up to this study. According to a 2023 population survey, the proportion of people experiencing these common mental health conditions climbed substantially between 2007 and 2022.
This discovery set off a search for what was driving the increase. Scientists initially wondered if the surge was entirely due to a wave of first-time cases. However, a 2026 study investigating the first onset of these disorders indicated that new cases alone could not fully explain the overall rise in people struggling with their mental health.
This pushed researchers to ask another question: whether people’s existing conditions were simply lasting longer than they used to. The research was led by Artemis Gkitakou, a PhD candidate at the Department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC and the Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), as part of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Lab.
“The idea for this study came from our previous research, which showed that anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders have become more prevalent over time, and that changes in common risk factors did not explain this increase,” Gkitakou told PsyPost. “We had also found that more people were developing these disorders for the first time, suggesting that increased incidence partly contributed to the rise in prevalence.”
“We wanted to know whether another part of the explanation could be that these disorders have also become more persistent over time,” she explained. “We therefore tested whether people with a mental disorder are nowadays more likely to continue experiencing mental health problems during the following three years than they were 12 years earlier.”
[...] The results point to a general increase in how long mental health problems last. Among the older group, 42.7% of people who had any mental disorder at the start of the study still had one three years later. In the recent group, that number rose to 57.9%. ... This pattern held true across specific categories.
The researchers also noted that persistence was consistently higher when using the broad definition compared to the narrow one. [...] “The broader perspective is important because people may move from experiencing one disorder, let’s say depression, to another disorder, for instance anxiety, during follow-up,” Gkitakou pointed out. “Recovery should not necessarily be viewed only in terms of the original diagnosis.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2020, which found that individuals typically experience shifting mental disorders across their lifespan rather than maintaining a single diagnosis. [...] Younger adults and people living in cities were more likely to have persistent conditions. Additionally, individuals who had experienced childhood trauma and those who used drugs on a near-daily basis were also more prone to long-lasting mental health struggles.
[...] As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on diagnostic interviews that, while highly structured and validated, are still based on self-reported symptoms... (MORE - details)
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But conventional medications (for physical rather than psychological conditions) also have side effects that can cause new or off-shooting ailments. Concomitant with less reluctance in the current era to dispense drugs for even minor difficulties.
And mental health problems are more of a norm today than in the past. Less stigma, more inclusiveness, along with sharing impulses ("Wow, I suffer from it, too!"). Almost a symbol of either status or ordinariness in cities. Ergo, compared to dense urban environments, the apparent lower rate in self-independence-oriented rural communities might be a retro-opposite of under-reporting. Not identifying positively or constructively with both depression and oppression (general victimhood).
EXCERPTS: Researchers tracking mental health in the Netherlands noticed a concerning trend leading up to this study. According to a 2023 population survey, the proportion of people experiencing these common mental health conditions climbed substantially between 2007 and 2022.
This discovery set off a search for what was driving the increase. Scientists initially wondered if the surge was entirely due to a wave of first-time cases. However, a 2026 study investigating the first onset of these disorders indicated that new cases alone could not fully explain the overall rise in people struggling with their mental health.
This pushed researchers to ask another question: whether people’s existing conditions were simply lasting longer than they used to. The research was led by Artemis Gkitakou, a PhD candidate at the Department of Psychiatry at Amsterdam UMC and the Trimbos Institute (Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction), as part of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Lab.
“The idea for this study came from our previous research, which showed that anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders have become more prevalent over time, and that changes in common risk factors did not explain this increase,” Gkitakou told PsyPost. “We had also found that more people were developing these disorders for the first time, suggesting that increased incidence partly contributed to the rise in prevalence.”
“We wanted to know whether another part of the explanation could be that these disorders have also become more persistent over time,” she explained. “We therefore tested whether people with a mental disorder are nowadays more likely to continue experiencing mental health problems during the following three years than they were 12 years earlier.”
[...] The results point to a general increase in how long mental health problems last. Among the older group, 42.7% of people who had any mental disorder at the start of the study still had one three years later. In the recent group, that number rose to 57.9%. ... This pattern held true across specific categories.
The researchers also noted that persistence was consistently higher when using the broad definition compared to the narrow one. [...] “The broader perspective is important because people may move from experiencing one disorder, let’s say depression, to another disorder, for instance anxiety, during follow-up,” Gkitakou pointed out. “Recovery should not necessarily be viewed only in terms of the original diagnosis.”
These findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2020, which found that individuals typically experience shifting mental disorders across their lifespan rather than maintaining a single diagnosis. [...] Younger adults and people living in cities were more likely to have persistent conditions. Additionally, individuals who had experienced childhood trauma and those who used drugs on a near-daily basis were also more prone to long-lasting mental health struggles.
[...] As with all research, there are a few things to keep in mind. The study relied on diagnostic interviews that, while highly structured and validated, are still based on self-reported symptoms... (MORE - details)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
But conventional medications (for physical rather than psychological conditions) also have side effects that can cause new or off-shooting ailments. Concomitant with less reluctance in the current era to dispense drugs for even minor difficulties.
And mental health problems are more of a norm today than in the past. Less stigma, more inclusiveness, along with sharing impulses ("Wow, I suffer from it, too!"). Almost a symbol of either status or ordinariness in cities. Ergo, compared to dense urban environments, the apparent lower rate in self-independence-oriented rural communities might be a retro-opposite of under-reporting. Not identifying positively or constructively with both depression and oppression (general victimhood).