15% of Mexicans have an emotional disorder

• April 25, 2024

Approximately 15% of the Mexican population suffers from a metal disorder , according to data that emerges from Neurocongress 201 6.

In the framework of World Mental Health Day 2017, this year is dedicated to mental health at work.

According to the doctor Héctor Dueñas Tentori , manager Clinical Research in Neurosciences of Eli Lilly Mexico , in our country there is a sub-diagnosis of these diseases:

"In Mexico, for example, of the 18 million people who suffer from them, only 5% are adequately diagnosed and under pharmacological treatment, which would allow them to return to levels of functionality in their daily lives."

The mental disorders they currently represent a problem for the productivity of the country, because the people affected by these evils are unable to perform a work activity or significantly reduce their capacity and willingness to carry it out.

Dueñas indicated that mental illnesses have the main consequence of inhibiting the ability of people to perform functionally within the family, social and work, so it is very common for a patient affected by these ills to lose in the short term employment and, consequently, its capacity to generate income.

This October 10 is the World Mental Health Day , for what we present, the most common afflictions that reduce the emotional health of Mexicans.

5 mental illnesses

Among them are the depression ,  schizophrenia ,  Bipolar disorder , attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADHD), the latter a disease previously thought to be exclusive of the child population, as well as psychosis for consumption of drug .

Depression: One in five people will suffer depression throughout their lives, experts say. This does not respect gender, age, or socioeconomic status, although it is more common in women.

People with depression do not choose to be like this. Among its main symptoms are: pain , sleep disorders and of the feeding ; psychological reactions, such as the feeling of fear and anxiety ; and cognitive, such as lack of concentration and memory, in addition to the difficulty to think and make decisions.

Schizophrenia: Nearly one million Mexicans suffer from schizophrenia. Each year 250,000 people are hospitalized for mental disorders in the Psychiatric Hospitals of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) where 5 out of 10 patients are schizophrenics , a disease that currently affects one in 100 people in the world. The schizophrenia It is a chronic and very debilitating mental illness.

Who suffers it often presents abnormal thinking, loss of contact with reality, hallucinations (see and hear things that are not real) and disappointments (beliefs that are not true or are false). No one knows for sure what causes schizophrenia; It can be for some genetic cause, environmental factors or abnormal levels of neurotransmitters, the chemical substances in the brain that influence our thought processes and emotions.

Bipolar disorder: For many years it was known as disease manic depressive and today it is identified as a Bipolar disorder , a mental disturbance that can be controlled through medication and therapy. Millions of people in the world live with him and in Mexico, according to data from the Mexican Association of Bipolar Disorder (AMATE), two million people suffer from it, although only half receive attention due to lack of economic resources and programs for mental health.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): It is estimated that of children diagnosed with ADHD, almost a third will continue to meet the clinical requirements during adulthood, but more than half will continue to show more attenuated symptoms and tend to be integrated into the personality of the individual as "a chronic way of being" . Less than 5% of adults with ADHD follow a long-term specific treatment, be it pharmacological or psychological.

Among the most frequent psycho-social problems detected in adults with ADHD are the following: they achieve lower status jobs and less remunerated; they change more times of work during their life and are dismissed more frequently; they have low general self-esteem; It is very common for them to feel frustrated with the life they lead; there is a greater incidence of marital separations and divorces; usual domestic abuse , e easy irritability and frequent anger, among others.

Psychosis due to drug use: Data from the "Fray Bernardino Álvarez" Psychiatric Hospital, dependent on the Federal Health Secretariat (Ssa), point out that of the 15 thousand annual consultations attended, 3.8% of the cases correspond to psychosis induced by substances like alcohol or drug illicit such as Hallucinogens , marijuana , amphetamines , cocaine and inhalable products, such as thinner or glue.

For this and more, it is essential that we have a healthy mental health, which is achieved through positive attitudes, correct channeling of emotions and healthy habits such as exercising, working and meditating.