The rising trend of mental health problems over the last decade it was exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in anxiety disorders, depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, as well as the increase in self-harming behaviors, starting in 2020 made evident the relationship between the health crisis and the worsening of society’s mental health.
Currently, 34% of the Spanish population suffers from some mental health problem, the most prevalent being anxiety, sleep and depressive disorders. Disorders that have a cost of 4.2% of GDPaccording to OECD estimates included in the report on the current state of the National Health System, prepared by the Economic and Social Council of Spain (CES).
In the European Union, the total cost of mental health problems represents 4% of GDP of the member countries. Thus, 190,000 million euros are allocated to health care and 170,000 million euros to social security programs, to which we must add approximately 240 billion euros of indirect costs for the labor marketdue to the reduction in employment and the decrease in labor productivity.
Precisely, one of the areas that most influence the mental health of the citizens of our country is work, as explained by Synergie España. Last year, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration registered a record number of 600,814 temporary sick leave caused by mental health problems.
In addition, during the first six months of 2024, more than 300,000 withdrawals related to mental health were signed, which represents an increase of 10% compared to last year.
Private healthcare, protagonist
The insufficiency of resources allocated to mental health care in the National Health System has led to the rise of the private sector in this area of care.
So, 8 out of 10 psychiatric consultations (77%) are carried out in private healthcarewhile the public system accounts for only 2 out of 10 (23%), according to the figures collected in the CES report.
Evolution of psychiatry consultations.
Some queries that have increased in recent years. While in 2010 there were close to 14,000, in 2021 they rose to 26,000. That is to say, consultation activity has almost doubled, with 77% occurring in private healthcare as mentioned previously.
In this sense, the Economic and Social Council of Spain warns that “this distribution of total activity, which implies expense for the majority of patients, can result in a situation of reverse carethose who need it most receive less attention, since the segments with fewer economic resources are precisely the ones most exposed to the risk of suffering from mental health problems.
Lack of professionals
The increase in psychiatry consultations occurs at a time when Spain has a reduced rate of system resources in terms of specialized personnel.
Specifically, our country has a ratio of 12 psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the latest data available in Eurostat. A figure lower than that of some countries like Germanywhere there are 28 psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants; either Greece and Netherlandscountries that have a ratio of 25 Psychiatry professionals.
Ratio of psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants.
Despite this, The truth is that Spain has increased this figure. In 2013, there was a ratio of 10 psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants. However, it is still very far from the OECD average, which stands at 18 professionals per 100,000 people.
A situation that could be worsened by the retirements that will occur in the coming years. To which is added that In 2027 no psychiatrist will enter the job market, given that the training of these professionals (known as the MIR system) has been extended to five years for this medical specialty.
therapeutic arsenal
To cope with mental health problems, patients sometimes have to resort to drug treatments. “Once pharmacological treatment is deemed necessary as part of the comprehensive approach to the health problem, it is equally important to guarantee that a responsible use of these medicationsso that its value is maximized”, explained Arantxa Sancho, director of the Department of Medical-Scientific Affairs at Farmaindustria.
Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is developing more than 160 medications against mental illness. Investigational drugs include 54 for depression, 35 for schizophrenia, 35 for anxiety disorders, and 13 for bipolar disorders.