Portugal is also at the top of mental health problems in general. And we are on the world podium of benzodiazepine consumption.
A few days ago, a report from the United Nations Organization appeared that placed Portugal on the podium world consumption of benzodiazepine.
Portugal appears in third place in the most recent data, with an average consumption of 80 daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants. above only Spain (110) and Belgium (84).
Already in 2021 – there is still no official data on 2022 – there had been an increase in the consumption of antidepressants in Portugal, with more than 28 thousand packages sold per day.
Returning to UN numbers, benzodiazepine is a psychotropic drug used, among other purposes, as anxiolytic. It serves to try to reduce the anxiety of the person concerned.
80 daily doses for every 1,000 Portuguese are synonymous with a rate of 8%according to this accounting.
leaders in anxiety
A percentage that coincides (almost to the tenth) with the study data Global Burden of Diseaseor Global Impact of Disease, in free translation, published by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation and retrieved now by Nelson ZagaloProfessor of Multimedia.
The global study, which involved virtually every country on the planet, presents the most recent estimates of the prevalence of mental health disorders and the burden of associated illnesses. It aggregates substance use disorders (alcohol and drug use disorders) with mental health disorders in various statistics.
The numbers collected up to 2019 are published on the portal Our World in Data and, with regard precisely to the anxietyit appears that Portugal is the country with the highest prevalence of anxiety disorders.
Portugal is the country with the most anxious population, In other words. has a rate of 8.79% of the national population. It rose 0.36% in relation to the previous accounting, carried out in 1990.
In second place, still some distance away, was the New Zealand, with 8.04%. The Portuguese language is present on the podium twice: the Brazil appears in the third port, with a rate of 7.77% of the population.
A Europe dominates the top-10: Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland and Cyprus occupy the first places, “mixed” with Iran.
Out of curiosity, countries with populations less anxious are all former members of Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and even the most “relaxed” place is Uzbekistan – where only 2.14% of people have anxiety disorders.
Depression and mental health
Portugal drops several places in the prevalence rate of depression: 33rd place (4.81%). Even so, it remains among the countries with the highest prevalence. In this case, Uganda leads the way and Brunei ranks last.
But overall, the prevalence of disorders related to general mental healthPortugal returns to the top places: fourth place, with a rate of 18.45% of the population. Just behind leader Australia and also New Zealand and Iran. The Spanish neighbors are in fifth place.
Among the other data (bipolarity, eating disorders, schizophrenia, drug consumption) what stands out is the rate of Portuguese people who have problems with alcohol: 12.03 liters per person per year. 13th rank for Portugal, in a list led by the Seychelles. In the other tables, Portugal occupies more discreet positions.
More than 10%
This study Global Burden of Disease estimates that 792 million people live with a mental health disorder. One out of 10 people have problems.
The Our World in Data portal warn that these numbers are estimates prevalence of mental health disorders – not diagnostic data. Medical and epidemiological data were combined with surveys and meta-regression modeling; but raw data is not available.
Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the uncertainty of data on mental health is generally high.
But, it’s true, people with mental health problems… we find them everywhere. They are common anywhere on the planet.
Nuno Teixeira da Silva, ZAP // 
