December is for data

You don't have to be a numbers person to be fascinated by these numbers.

Tanmoy Goswami

10 Dec 2025 — 4 min read

👋🏽 Hello. Would you believe it? This is an idea that's been sitting in my drafts folder for the better part of 3 years. There are so many important and curious numbers in the stories I write, but they don't get the hero's treatment they deserve amid thousands of words. And yet, these numbers, sourced from the dozens of research papers and articles I often read as prep for my writing, tell fascinating stories of their own. Today I present a curated list of 10 such big numbers that reveal a lot about the mental health space. Actually, there are nine numbers ... even though the 10th one is my favourite. You will see what I mean.

Love,
Tanmoy

30%

of people with major depressive disorder have 'treatment-resistant' depression.

70%

therapists felt sexually attracted towards their patients according to a survey in Belgium.

50%

of all people with depression will relapse after the first episode, according to British researchers.

67%

of surveyed people in the US are polite to their AI chatbots.

Up to $942 billion

Worth of productivity allegedly "compromised by grief" because of Covid-related loss in US workplaces.

57%

of surveyed people in the US found it hard to talk about personal finances with their therapist, a higher proportion than religion and nearly as much as sex.

41%

of baby names in England and Wales are considered a typo by Microsoft's English (UK) dictionary, many of Asian and African origin.

0.1%

of development assistance for health goes to child and adolescent mental health, even though they are 40% of the world's population.

61%

lower risk of suicide among beneficiaries of Brazil's Bolsa Familia cash transfer programme.

5 years

That's how old Sanity will turn next week as India's first solo-run, independent, reader-supported mental health storytelling platform. Against all odds. Thanks to you.