Spain is not the only country that is concerned about the poor mental health of a part of its population, especially after the pandemic. Europe as a whole is aware of the deterioration in the mental state of citizens, especially children and young people, with as yet unknown personal and social consequences. It is estimated that around 20% of Europeans suffer from a problem of these characteristics, and that is on the low side. What is known, however, is the economic cost of mental illness in the EU: 600 billion euros a year (for health systems and social security, but also reduced employment and worker productivity). .
Against this background, the European Commission has just presented a new approach to mental health care, which it had been working on since before the pandemic, whose ultimate goal is to bring mental health to the same level as physical health. In other words, that all citizens who require it receive the necessary attention and without stigma. To help to this end and to address the twenty measures that it proposes, a fund of 1,230 million euros has been provided.
"There is no health without mental health and there can be no European Health Union if we cannot access, in an equitable manner, the prevention, treatment and health care of our mental problems, when we need it. We have "We have to end stigma and discrimination so that people who need it can ask for help and receive the support they need. It's okay to be unwell, and it is our duty to ensure that everyone who asks for help receives it," he says the Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, who is in Spain today precisely to promote this programme.
"In the context of significant technological, environmental and social changes that cannot be easily accommodated by individuals, EU action on mental health will focus on adequate and effective prevention; access to health care and treatment in the field of affordable and high-quality mental health, and in the reintegration into society after psychological recovery", say sources from the Commission.
Precisely the guiding principles that Spanish psychiatrists have requested this week, who also request more resources to meet the great existing demand for mental health care.
And it is that Spain has a very serious deficit of psychiatrists and more than it will have, since in five years almost a thousand professionals will retire.
To alleviate these losses and face the high demand, Spain needs to incorporate between 370 and 565 psychiatrists a year over the next five years to achieve optimal ratios that guarantee attention to the growing demand in mental health and that, although there are abysmal differences between communities, they are very far from those of other European countries, according to the calculations that the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health (SEPM) has made in the White Paper on Psychiatry.
Spain currently has 4,393 psychiatrists in the public system, which represents a ratio of 9.27 per 100,000 inhabitants. If the 1,036 residents in training are added -although not all finish it nor do those who complete it end up practicing-, the figure rises to 11.5, but it still does not reach the optimal values of between 13 and 15 professionals per 100,000 inhabitants, which is established by World Health Organization. Only five communities exceed the ratio of 11 and two reach optimal figures (Basque Country, with 15, and Catalonia, with 13.3), but there are many that do not even reach 7.
In addition to the “significantly lower” than desirable ratios and those found in countries such as Portugal (14), the United Kingdom and Ireland (19) or Germany (28), is added the fact that 20.8% active have more of 60 years and 6.7% have exceeded 65.
