Mexico is one of the countries that has been least concerned about discrimination against mental illnesses
Mexico is the second country in the world with the highest level of stigma in terms of mental illnesses, only behind Ukraine, so it is urgent to change the vision of these illnesses, specialists considered this Friday.
"We continue to be a society that discriminates against and stigmatizes mental patients and that is why those who suffer from this type of illness hide it," Dunia Pintado Izundegui, president of the Voz Pro Salud Mental association, told Efe .
The specialist highlighted that mental illnesses affect a third of the Mexican population and, according to data from the 2018 National Health Survey (Ensanut), 28.6% of Mexicans said they had suffered a mental disorder at some time in their life.
Dr. Bernardo NG Solís, president of the Mexican Psychiatric Association, assured that depression is one of the most frequent mental illnesses in the population, however, it is often minimized because it is confused with sadness.
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"It is believed that psychiatric patients are ill voluntarily. But together with diabetes and hypertension they are serious, because these diseases aggravate the state," said the specialist.
He explained that major depressive disorder is the most common chronic condition after hypertension, but it is not as visible because most patients are not diagnosed with this disorder.
"That is why it is essential to train health professionals, especially first-contact doctors, since from that first level depression, anxiety and suicide risk could be detected," he said.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), about 800,000 people commit suicide in the world annually. In fact, it is estimated that one person commits suicide every 40 seconds, which is concerning as this may be preventable.
He highlighted that in Mexico two decades ago, deaths by suicide were 7.5 per 100,000 inhabitants; while currently this figure has risen to 15 per 100,000.
The WHO, in fact, considers by 2020 depression will be the first cause of death in countries like Mexico.
He expressed that the main danger is in the younger population, since in adolescents it has become the second cause of death in the country.
However, he highlighted that less than 20% of those with an affective disorder seek some kind of help and it is believed that those who do so take up to 14 years to reach specialized treatment.
In addition to this, only half of those who come to ask for help receive the appropriate treatment.
Pintado regretted that despite the seriousness of these diseases, in Mexico only 2% of the health budget is allocated to these diseases. "It takes a lot more support and a lot more effort to attack them," he said.
But mental illnesses are only a part of the so-called Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which are one of the greatest challenges facing health systems in Latin America and, in Mexico alone, are responsible for almost 80% of the total The deaths.
These diseases, according to Dr. Agustín Lara, member of the Scientific Committee of the Mexican Diabetes Federation, are characterized by being of long duration, have a slow progression and result from the combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioral factors.
They are grouped into four types: cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and most of them are preventable.
These issues were debated at the Upjohn Mexico Noncommunicable Diseases Forum in Mexico City, where specialists met to share knowledge and seek solutions to these problems.