Blog: In tandem with COVID - 19, other, less visible, mental health crises are on the rise.

Michaela Stanová has written a blog in which she discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of us all. She argues the emergence of COVID-19 has caused not only an increase in, but also an worsening of, pre-existing mental health problems, but fortunately also an interest in addressing them. This is both at the individual level and at the legislative level.

Before pandemic, in a report from 2018, it has been identified that one in six people (17.3%) on average across EU countries had symptoms of psychological distress in 2016. Depression was one of the leading causes of disability. In the EU, one in 25 people has been diagnosed with depression, one in 20 with anxiety. The total costs of mental health issues were estimated at more than 4% of GDP (more than EUR 600 billion) across the 28 EU countries. Without effective treatment and support, mental health problems can have a devastating effect on people’s lives, and significantly increase the risk of dying from suicide, which was the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. In 2017, over 48 000 people died of suicide across EU countries. The most frequent number of suicides were amongst men aged 45 and over. This is one of the results of on-going stigmatization of men expressing emotions or finding professional help. Eight in ten suicides are among men. 

You can find the blog post under the PDF button.