This informative interactive workshop will discuss the current contribution of mental health disorders to the global burden of disease. It will be based on a paper published in the August 2021 issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and authored by an international team of University and Hospital-based researchers headed by the author, Suzanne Connolly. The authors explored RCTs in low and middle-income countries where the mental health interventions were facilitated by professionally trained lay counsellors with no previous mental health training. This is proposed by the authors as one proven way to help close the mental health treatment gap in middle and low-income countries. Two of the studies using holistic techniques, included in the meta-analysis were co-conducted by the presenter. A tiered approach saving the most severe cases for mental health professionals designed by the WHO will be discussed as well as the severe shortage of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in low and middle-income countries. There will be an invitation for open discussion and questions and answers. It will be interactive from the beginning with questions like "What illness would you guess is estimated to be the leading contributor to the global burden of disease by 2025? There will be a discussion about how attendees can utilize this information in underserved areas of the country they reside in. This workshop will be accompanied by a colorful and informative PowerPoint presentation.