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Depression affects 264 million people worldwide, according to the United Nations.
Thanakorn Suppamethasawat / EyeEm / Getty Images
The coronavirus pandemic “has the seeds of a major mental health crisis,” the United Nations (UN) warned in a policy briefing this week, calling for substantial investment in support services.
Devora Kestel, director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at the World Health Organization (WHO, a UN agency), said the isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil surrounding the pandemic could cause “psychological distress”.
He added that “the mental health and well-being of entire societies have been seriously affected by this crisis and are a priority that must be urgently addressed.”
Kestel was presenting a UN report, released Thursday, highlighting that certain people, including front-line health care workers, the elderly, people with pre-existing health conditions, women and children, showed “high degrees of distress psychological related to Covid-19 “.
The coronavirus has infected more than 4.3 million people worldwide and has killed nearly 300,000, according to the latest data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
The UN said that while innovative ways of providing mental health support had been implemented in recent months, it did not go far enough to meet the needs of the vast majority due to historically low investment in this area before the pandemic.
He noted that depression and anxiety cost the world economy more than $ 1 trillion a year before the coronavirus pandemic and that globally, there are less than 1 mental health professional for every 10,000 people. This despite the fact that depression affects 264 million people worldwide.
However, the UN said that countries spend only 2% of their mental health healthcare budget on average.
As such, Kestel recommended that countries develop and fund national plans that move mental health care away from institutions to community services. In addition, they must ensure coverage of mental health conditions in health insurance packages and develop the human resource capacity to provide quality mental and social health care in the community.
The UN report also cited a 2018 investigation by the Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development that showed that there are mental health problems on a continuum from mild to severe. The UN said the Covid-19 crisis influenced the placement of people on the continuum and that “many people who previously managed well are now less able to cope with the multiple stressors generated by the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, those who already had a mental health condition may experience “worsening of their condition and reduced functioning.”
The report also referred to a study conducted in Ethiopia in April, which estimated that 33% of people showed symptoms of depression, which is believed to be three times higher than before the crisis.
The UN also said that to cope with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, people can turn to alcohol, drugs, smoking, or spend more time in potentially addictive activities like online games. He cited another study that found that a fifth of Canadians ages 15 to 49 had been drinking more during the pandemic.
The UN urged countries to include mental health in its Covid-19 response, among other measures.
