The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) is the most comprehensive global epidemiological study, and the analyses of the 2015 data have recently been published (thelancet.com/gbd). This is a rich data-setincluding observation on the general increase in global life expectancy,with the gains due to significant improvement in HIV outcomes balancedagainst the significant war-related decreases in male life expectancy inSyria. Interestingly, the age-standardised mortality rate for mental andsubstance use disorders dropped by over 12% between 2005 and 2015, thoughwith considerable variations between conditions and countries, and theauthors further note the difficulty in accurately attributing and codingexcess deaths – for example, the years of life known to be indirectly lostto schizophrenia. Total deaths due to self-harm and interpersonal violencedid not change much during this period.