Sunday, October 10, 2010

Over 60 per cent of Afghans suffer mental health problems

"This is a major problem," Suraya Dalil, Afghanistan’s acting public health minister, told a ceremony in Kabul on World Mental Health Day. "More than 60 percent of Afghans are suffering from stress disorders and mental problems."
The picture is particularly grim in parts of the country where government healthcare workers are unable to provide basic services because of Taliban insurgency, she said.
"Extreme poverty, insecurity, violence and gender disparities are the major factors contributing to worsening mental health in Afghanistan."
[...]
"There are only 200 beds for psychiatric services in the country, with only two psychiatrists in the country covering the entire population," said WHO representative Peter Graaff.
(AFP)

1 comment:

  1. Maybe they are modernizing... check this out: Depression is the #1 illness treated by British medics. About 7% of the entire population of the UK is considered to be clinical depressive - numbers are rapidly increasing! It is guessed that depressions makes the economy suffer by 11 billion Euros every year (through absence of work, treatment, suicides decrease in productivity, etc.).
    Obviously a little walk is able to reduce symptoms as good as any medicament tested so far. Prozac & Efexor, the most commonly used anti-depressives, cut down symptoms to 48% - compared to a walk everyday: 50). For there was an impact of 38% by placebos in the medical conditions (!) it is believed that medically treated depressions are mainly cured by the attention of professionals... not the medicine itself. Prozac might lead to a total cessation of dopamine production. So how about looking for our neighbours and friends more often and going for a little walk once in a while... Okay, I guess it is easier to spend billions on little pills, supporting the pharma industry. What a sick society!

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