Mental Health & Poverty
Among all the enemies of health in general and mental health in particular, poverty is definitely the most fearful. Low income populations have the highest rate of morbidity, disability and mortality due to psychiatric and behavioral disorders.
“One of the world’s biggest killers and greatest causes of ill-health and suffering across the globe is poverty. It is the main cause of life-span reduction, disabilities and famine. Poverty is an important factor leading to mental illness, stress, suicide, the break-up of families and the abuse of certain substances. For many, the perspective of a longer life might seem to be more of a punishment than a prize” (WHO).
In the last 30 years the foreign debt of developing countries has been continuously increasing. The gap between the rich and the poor in the world has been getting wider and wider and the difference in per-capita income between industrial countries and developing countries has triplicated. Developing countries have approximately 80% of the world population but they control only 21% of the global GDP. In many countries the disparities in terms of economic conditions and access to health services between rich and poor is just as great, or even bigger than those between nations.
Hunger, deprivation, depression and violence hit above all women. Within the families, women suffer more severely from the negative effects of economic reforms. Selective abortions, female infanticide, gender discrimination and maternal mortality significantly and especially affect the life and the mental health of women.
The poor are ‘inheriting’ the health problems of the rich: “People in the poorest countries are adopting the same life-style and the same unhealthy behaviors as the industrialized world: sedentary jobs, insufficient physical activity, irrationale diets, tobacco, alcohol and drugs” (WHO).
Even though globally life-expectancy has increased, the greatest longevity of low income populations is not associated with a ‘compression of morbidity’ (that is a better health in old age) as occurres to middle and high income populations.
The burden of mental disorders continues to grow. The most relevant causes of illnesses are depression, self-inflicted injuries, dementia and alcohol dependence. By 2020 depression will be the second cause of the global burden of desease, after heart ischaemia. In 2025 three quarters of the elderly affected by dementia will be living in low income countries. The rates of mental retardation and epilepsy are from 3 to 5 times higher in those countries. Around 80 % of patients affected by epilepsy do not receive anti-convulsing treatments even if a pharmacological therapy is available at a reasonable price.
