Brain disorders can affect brain function and give rise to varying degrees of impairment, including in relation to cognitive and emotional function, mobility and communication. Living with a brain disease can significantly affect quality of life and is also associated with major consequences such as distress, stigma, social isolation and discrimination (Boon et al., 2025). Brain diseases are the most frequent cause of disability among the Norwegian population (Government, 2023).
Diseases of the brain account for just over a third of the years that people in Norway live with disability (Nilsen, 2018). People with brain disease are more likely to take sick leave and be unemployed. More people retire earlier and have a significantly lower life expectancy than the general population (German Brain Council, 2022).
In 2023, almost 22,000 people aged 18-29 years were in receipt of disability benefit. Nearly 70% of these individuals had diagnoses within mental and behavioural disorders, while just over 11% had neurological diseases. Just over 11% had congenital malformations and chromosome abnormalities (NAV, 2025).