Within the framework of the AMIIF Innovation Week, the challenges in this field of medicine were discussed. “We know that in Mexico only 20% of people living with mental disorders get professional care and that in many cases it can take up to 12 years to achieve a diagnosis,” said Cristina Rosas, from the Prospectiva consultancy.
The “World Report on Mental Health” from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that one in eight people in the world suffers from a mental disorder, the most common being depressive and anxiety disorders. Even the Covid-19 pandemic generated a true global mental health crisis that, in its first year alone, caused a 25% increase in these disorders.
In Mexico, according to the 2020 census of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi), throughout the national territory there are 1,590,583 people with a mental problem or condition. Of these people, 602,293 (37.9%), in addition to having a mental problem or condition, have a disability and 264,518 (16.6%), have a mental problem or condition and some limitation. Other interesting data shows that 25.8% are people from 0 to 14 years old; 25.3% from 15 to 29 years old; 34.5% from 30 to 59 years old and 14.4% from 60 years or older. That is, almost half (48.9%) are adults.
Even with the obvious problem, “We know that in Mexico only 20% of people living with mental disorders get professional care and that in many cases it can take up to 12 years to achieve a diagnosis,” said Cristina Rosas. , from the Prospective consultancy, during the Innovation Week of the Mexican Association of Pharmaceutical Research Industries (AMIIF).
There is evidence through reports presented by the WHO and the World Labor Organization (ILO), that these disorders cause the loss of 12 billion work days each year, which translates into the loss of almost one trillion jobs. dollars to the world economy. Even with this context, in Mexico it has been detected that the level of mental health care does not meet the needs of patients due to the lack of budget, lack of training for first contact doctors, late diagnoses, lack of public policies, insufficiency of specialized care centers and social stigma towards mental illnesses.
This problem was raised and discussed by leaders of civil organizations and institutions focused on mental health, during the panel “Facing the challenges of mental health and dementia: a multidisciplinary perspective.”
In this sense, Dr. Jacqueline Cortés, president of the Mexican Psychiatric Association, indicated that the prevention of mental illness should begin in the family environment. “From early stages it is important to adopt healthy lifestyle habits, to prevent, as far as possible, the appearance of disorders or conditions that affect mental health.”
Dr. Cortés indicated that parents and teachers should promote healthy lifestyle habits, such as a balanced diet, and a balanced sleep and wake cycle. “Young people do not give importance to their sleep, they have bad habits and sleep more during the day than at night. This will bring a series of consequences on their academic performance, and on their physical and mental health.”
“If a condition is identified, it is important to find a way to treat it. If depression becomes severe and is not treated, it can be accompanied by suicidal behavior. Suicide is the second cause of death in the population between the ages of 14 and 29,” Cortés said.
Dementia, complex disease and poor care
One of the main problems in mental health is focused on dementia, as we remember that according to the current projections of the Mexican population, in 1950, 5 elderly people (60 years and over) for every 100 inhabitants suffered from dementia. Currently this figure reaches 12 older people for every 100 inhabitants. If this trend continues, it is estimated that, in 2050, 23 out of every 100 older people will face this disease.
In this regard, Paola Barbarino, CEO of Alzheimer’s Disease International in the United Kingdom, pointed out that dementia is a complex disease. “In Mexico, it is difficult for people with dementia to receive a diagnosis. In addition, many first-contact doctors are not prepared to give a diagnosis and there are no guidelines that tell patients and their families what to do.”
Paola Barbarino mentioned that caregivers do not receive social assistance either, and they are also affected by the stress they suffer since, having to be aware of their family member, they do not have enough time to attend to their own responsibilities and personal coexistence. Dulce Tovar, general director of Alzheimer Mexico IAP, adds that the timely diagnosis of dementia and the medical approach are very important challenges. “We have people with late diagnosis, in very advanced stages of the disease, which makes it difficult to implement the appropriate strategies.”
The panelists concluded that the challenges are great, both at the level of research, budget, public policies, specialized care and prevention. Part of the budget allocated to mental health is concentrated in direct care, so much more work must be done on prevention. They recalled that pharmacological treatment is not cheap and in the health sector there are not all the specialized medicines that patients need, even today there is a serious crisis of medicines that could not be solved, and thus more factors are added for the financial and psychological stress of relatives and caregivers, for this reason the call is for the union of efforts of all sectors of the population, which allows generating coordinated actions, and having an adequate budget.
