ECONOMIC ASPECTS

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ECONOMIC ASPECTS ECONOMIC

How do mental health problems, along with the lack of psychological services, affect the economy?

Mental health problems affect millions of people. When proper treatment is not received, this could become a mental disorder that not only affects people emotionally, but also affects their normal functioning. Usually it is not given enough attention, the symptoms are overlooked, until they begin to interfere with daily life and even until these problems begin to become a disability. The World Health Organization (2004)38 describes mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual is aware of his own abilities, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his community.” . And that is precisely the consequence of when mental problems become a disability for the individual, since the economy, both personally and in general, is affected. The World Health Organization (2022)39 talks about the economic consequences of mental disorders, since low productivity and indirect costs to society often exceed the costs of general health care. An example, if we talk about the schizophrenia disorder, it is proven that approximately 1 in 200 adults suffer from this disease. In economic terms, this is the most expensive disorder per person. However, despite the fact that depressive and anxiety disorders are less costly per person, they are more frequent, so it largely affects national spending. If we compare this with the WHO figures from 2013, where it was estimated that at least 151 million people in the world suffer from depression and some 26 million people suffer from schizophrenia, we see truly alarming figures compared to the estimates that countries are giving to the mental health system. Well, mental disorders are expensive and governments to deal with this problem are providing countries with only or less than 2% of the budgets allocated to the health sector. This is why there has been a notorious deterioration of the mental health system, since it lacks information, research, resources and services. Well, a large part of the budget is directed to other diseases and they forget that mental health is also important (WHO, 2022)40. Suffering from these disorders can affect not only the productivity of individuals, but also can unleash physical problems, such as the difficulty of doing daily tasks such as eating, sleeping, getting out of bed and among others. That causes people to become less efficient. Resources to treat these conditions are insufficient, in “high-income countries, between 35% to 50% of people with severe

38 OMS (2004). Invertir en Salud Mental, Ginebra, Suiza.

39 OMS, “Un Informe De La Oms Pone De Relieve El Déficit...” (2021) https:// www.who.int/es/news/item/08-10-2021-who-report-highlights-globalshortfall-in-investment-in-mental-health.

mental disorders do not receive adequate treatment.” While in low-income countries up to 85% of people do not have access to any treatment (Sarmiento, 2017)41. Services are not only scarce, but in many countries they are not even covered by health insurance, which makes it even more difficult to receive help. So we see how the demand for treatments exceeds the supply of these and how the lack of these services. The time in which people go without receiving help, the disease continues to worsen and this is seen in the impact of the level of functioning of people (Sarmiento, 2017)42 . The economic impact is reflected in personal income, the ability of people to work and make contributions to the national economy. Well, people with mental health problems not only have the difficulty of obtaining a job, but also of keeping them. Well, suffering from these diseases, relapses, poor performance and absenteeism, not only affects the person but also affects the employer. “In the United States, it is estimated that 59% of the economic costs due to loss of productivity are due to mental health problems, even if a person is not absent from work” (WHO, 2004)43. According to the 2022 Global Health Care Outlook report by the financial company Deloitte, between 2011 and 2030, a loss of economic output associated with global mental health is expected of up to 16.3 billion dollars. It is even expected that the direct and indirect costs of poor mental health exceed 4% of global GDP (gross domestic product), a high figure compared to the combined costs of cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases (Vera, 2022)44. Health costs are divided in three ways (Palma, 2010)45 :

Direct costs: the cost of personnel, medicines, medical equipment and real estate.

Tangible indirect costs: loss or gain in productivity.

Indirect intangible costs: pain, suffering and uncertainty.

Mental health is essential for human development, this should be recognized as equally important as other diseases, also providing a larger budget to provide the necessary services. Investing in mental health helps social and economic development. This is exactly what the World Health Organization Comprehensive Action Plan for 2030 proposes. Countries start to invest more in this sector, promote these services and deepen the value of mental health. This transformation must be a contribution from not only governments, but this must include health care providers, non-governmental organizations, employers, and society in general. Everyone’s collaboration is needed to provide a favorable environment for transformation.

41 Sarmiento Suárez, M.J. “Salud Mental y desarrollo. Medicina.” 39, 3 (sep. 2017), 246–254 https://www.revistamedicina.net/index.php/Medicina/article/view/118-7

42 Sarmiento Suárez, M.J. “Salud Mental y ...” 44 Vera, J. (2022). “El Impacto De La Salud Mental En La Economía Global” PlantaDoce. https://www.plantadoce.com/entorno/el-impacto-de-la-salud-mental-en-la-economia-global-16300-millones-de-euros-\de-perdidas-entre-2011-y-2030.html. 45 Palma Cortés, Mauricio. (2010). “Economía De La Salud Mental”Review of Punto de vista. El Residente 5, no. 1, 9–13. https://www.medigraphic. com/cgi-bin/new/resumen.cgi?DARTICULO=24105.

Share of population with mental health disorders, 2019: This includes depression, anxiety, bipolar, eating disorders and schizophrenia. Due to the widespread under-diagnosis, these estimates use a combination of sources, including medical and national records, epidemiological data, survey data, and meta regression models.

Chart from https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health

Worldwide mental health is alarming, where more cases have been registered are:

Spain Canada

United States of America The Caribbean

Australia Among others Latin American countries