The mental health of the population has deteriorated, without much increase in resources for care – Pixabay
“Investments and quality of mental health care” must be increased “urgently”. In a report published on Tuesday, the OECD underlines the importance of the social and economic costs associated with mental disorders and the sharp increase in mental health problems with the Covid crisis.
“Countries must provide adequate support to those affected while urgently increasing investment and quality of care to reduce the high social and economic costs associated with mental health problems,” notes the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in a report. communicated. “Psychiatric services have long been neglected and underfunded, and unmet care needs remain high in OECD countries,” note the authors.
Increase after pandemic
But the needs are great: it was estimated before the health crisis that one in two people had already suffered from mental disorders during their life, and that one in five was affected at any time. And “the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in mental health problems, in particular among young people, the unemployed and people in financial precarious situations,” notes the organization.
According to the report, the economic costs associated with mental disorders represent more than 4.2% of the GDP of OECD countries. While some are a direct result of salaries, more than a third of them are linked to lower employment rates and lost productivity.
Lower-than-average life expectancy
“However, these costs can be avoided, at least in part”, assure the authors. In particular by improving prevention, care, allowing better access to education, employment … Because according to the report, 67% of people wishing to benefit from mental health care said they had difficulty in obtaining it. get. “Eleven OECD countries have only one psychologist or less per 10,000 inhabitants,” note the authors of the report.
And suffering from a mental disorder still rhymes with a lower level of education and employment and difficulty in maintaining good physical health. The authors also point out that the life expectancy of people with serious mental health problems is much lower than the average for the population. Mandated in 2017 by the ministers of health of the OECD, the organization notes in its report that this “global assessment remains hampered by the low availability of data”.