Unlike the United States, but similar to Britain, community mental health care in Sweden is provided by two systems; treatment (and forensic services) by the county councils' mental health providers, and generic services by the municipalities' social welfare system.
GovTech Sweden aims to boost youth mental health by helping relevant startups that lack resources and expertise. It enables these health startups to develop their digital tools alongside schools and public health research, Norlin highlights.
In addition, a lot of mental health treatment programmes, such as courses of cognitive behavioural therapy or 'talking therapies' such as psychoanalysis and counselling, are not covered at all by the state system, meaning that people have to pay out of pocket.
Covered services include inpatient, outpatient, dental, mental health, and long-term care, as well as prescription drugs. Regions set provider fees at all levels of care, as well as copayment rates for services such as primary care visits and hospitalizations.
Sweden. Sweden has the top positive mental health index which basically gives the mental health status of a given population.
It is the largest country on the top 30 list of countries with the highest depression rates. Countries with the least depression include several smaller, lower-income countries in South Asia such as Brunei, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Mali, where less than 2.5% of the population is reported to have a depressive disorder.
This statistic shows the share of people that was diagnosed with depression by a doctor in Sweden in 2022, by age group and by gender. Women had a higher share than the men for all age groups. Among women, 6.3 percent of those aged between 16 to 29 years of age were suffering from depression.
This is particularly true if you have repeated episodes of depression. Just under half of all women and a quarter of all men in Sweden experience depression that may require treatment at some point in their lives.
Among the EU countries, Portugal (12.2%) had the highest share of the population reporting chronic depression in 2019, followed Sweden (11.7%), Germany and Croatia (both 11.6%). In contrast, the share of people reporting chronic depression was lowest in Romania (1.0%), Bulgaria (2.7%) and Malta (3.5%).
The cost of online therapy in Sweden will vary depending on the type of therapy you choose and whether or not it is covered by your health insurance. Video therapy typically costs around 500 SEK per session, while text-based therapy can cost as little as 100 SEK per session.
If you are in a public hospital, care is free. If you are in a private hospital, you will be charged. If you have private health insurance, that will cover some of the costs. If you see a community mental health service, that is free.
The price is fixed at 250 kronor per session, and if you hold a “Frikort” (cost exemption card), it is free of charge. Mindler is able to provide the service at such a good price because we are subsidised by the Swedish health authorities. We have over 250 accredited psychologists that are associated with our app.
Mental Health and Work: Sweden says that mental health issues cost the Swedish economy nearly EUR 8 billion per year, equivalent to 2.8% of GDP, through lost productivity, healthcare and social spending.
Decentralized tax-funded system
Swedish health and medical care is primarily financed through public finances and is a strongly decentralized system in which all levels, from national to regional, enjoy autonomy and the ability to structure their operations in line with local conditions.
One simple factor could be that the region's high societal trust, strong welfare systems, relatively low crime and low unemployment means there are far fewer people who consider themselves unhappy.
What makes Sweden so expensive? Well, partly it's down to the country's strict labour laws, which make it relatively expensive for companies to employ people. And partly it's because of Sweden's notoriously high taxes, which help to keep the welfare state well oiled. It isn't all bad news for foreign visitors, though.
For instance, in an online survey conducted in Spring 2020, an increased prevalence of depression (30 %), anxiety (24 %), and insomnia (38 %) was observed in Sweden (McCracken et al., 2020), in line with two meta-analyses showing a prevalence of depression from 15.2 % (Cénat et al., 2021) to 45 % (Deng et al., 2021).
Sociologists who measure anxiety levels of entire nations have concluded that the US is, by far, the most anxious nation on Earth. About one in three Americans can be expected to suffer anxiety at some point in their lifetime, compared with one in four Colombians, who occupy the second world-anxiety slot.
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression. Depression can occur at any age.
The pooled risk ratio was 1.19 (95% CI: 1.07‐1.31), demonstrating greater risk of depression in populations with higher income inequality relative to populations with lower inequality. Multiple studies reported subgroup effects, including greater impacts of income inequality among women and low‐income populations.
Depression. Impacting an estimated 300 million people, depression is the most-common mental disorder and generally affects women more often than men.
The country with the highest prevalence of schizophrenia is Indonesia, with a total of 829,735 people with the disorder.