The pandemic has unleashed warning signs on mental health and given it unprecedented insight. Pandemic fatigue, amplified by confinement, anxiety and fear of an unknown disease, isolation, and effort visible on the face of health professionals who have endured working, for months on end, on the front line in the battle against Covid-19, have raised the issue for public opinion. The challenge for mental health in Portugal now is to “take advantage of the wave and not allow the issue to become less visible again, and to make sure that people are aware of the problem and are alert,” says Antonio Lochner.
The psychiatrist and chair of the National Council on Mental Health participated in another podcast, “Transforming the SNS,” promoted by DN, in which he noted the right of all citizens to enjoy mental health, accompanied by physical well-being and well-being. Being social. “These three components cannot be completely separated,” he says, noting that this is a problem often associated with serious physical illnesses, as patients suffer from it psychologically, and therefore, it is essential to ensure that they are monitored and in need of support.
This is a problem that affects not only patients, but their families as well. “We cannot forget that there is always a family unit behind the person,” notes Joaquina Castellao, who has also participated in a podcast on mental health and who together with Antonio Lochner developed a thesis that reflects and illustrates ways on the topic, within the scope of the “Transforming SNS” project.
The president of the Familiarmente (Portuguese Federation of Associations of Families with People with Experience in Mental Illness), who knows the problem closely and works with other families and associations that give them a voice, warns of the importance of health promotion and prevention, not only with mental health, “but above all in diagnosis In time, in appropriate treatment and integrated follow-up in multidisciplinary terms, which includes as a resource – not as a partner – the family.” Because this, adds Joaquina Castelão, also needs care, not the same type of illness, but it does need support and follow-up. “This is a very high percentage of our population and it requires very, very high attention from the lead mental health policy, service leaders and the community itself.”
The stigma attached to these diseases – which persists in the twenty-first century – must also be eliminated. In his view, society is still the main culprit for the stigma that persists, perhaps due to the lack of information on the subject, “but what is certain is that there is still much to be done in this area”.
Antonio Leuchner agrees and adds that mental health can and should be treated in the same way as other health, long before disease appears. He argues that these actions must begin very early in people’s lives. The recent formation of a group that will conduct a study on the importance of mental health in increasing crime among young people under 16 years of age is, for a psychiatrist, a very important step.
“Having the idea that many of the determinants of decompensation are not exactly in the biological entity behind each of us, but that they will also be in environmental, social, economic or family factors, is fundamental work,” he asserts.
In terms of costs, which are always an important component of any health issue, Joaquina Castelão believes they will be identical, or even lower, than in many other areas of health. “There are costs that, at an early stage, turn into profits that are much higher than the costs of what is invested in health, because of all the ramifications that a stable person will be able to lead a normal life.”
Often, these people leave their jobs or studies, interrupting the normal life cycle due to the disability caused by the disease, while it progresses without proper treatment. The same thing happens in families, who often stop working to continue, reducing the family’s income, with all its economic and social implications. “We have to take into account all these factors, and not just think about the cost to the state. At the moment, the biggest cost falls on the person who suffers, on his family and on society, because he is someone who has stopped producing for the country.”
To follow the full discussion, listen to the podcast.
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