this is a consistent picture that emerges for a range of mental health indicators and a large number of countries yet in the empirical analysis presented in this paper there is no evidence that these higher expected needs are being met through higher hospital admissions or pharmaceutical consumption for mental health this is perhaps a sign of further stress on mental health systems that are unable to respond and provide adequate treatment during times of high need the clear lesson is that providers need additional capacity to respond to the additional mental health needs during times of economic downturns