Three years after, the consequences are still present in our lives.
Highlights:
- More than seven million people have been infected, and more than 300,000 have died in Mexico.
- The pandemic is still very present: from new cases of the disease and increased long COVID-19 incidence, to social injustice and the various sequelae of the disease, including mental health disorders.
- Several factors have perpetuated social inequity in Mexico, such as socioeconomic inequalities, fragmentation of the healthcare system, elevated rates of informal employment, the shortage of public investment, and the revocation of social programs, among others.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the mental health of the Mexican population, and this effect will continue to persist.
Three years after the first confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, more than seven million people have been infected, and more than 300,000 have died in Mexico, according to Worldometers data, which is probably underestimated. And it is that, despite this time and the fact that we may be reaching the point of “taming” it, the pandemic is still very present: from new cases of the disease and increased long COVID-19 incidence to social injustice and the various sequelae of the disease, including mental health disorders, have had a greater impact on vulnerable segments of the population.
Unfortunately, during the pandemic, instead of striving to reinforce social institutions to safeguard mental health and contribute to equity, they were debilitated, causing a negative impact that will surely continue in the long term. As a result, there is an estimated 28% increase in depression rates worldwide and a 26% growth in anxiety, according to data from the Global Burden of Disease study.
Women were affected more than men, and younger people were more affected than older age groups.
Healthdata.org
Besides, the consequences have been more noteworthy among vulnerable sectors. Several factors have perpetuated social inequity in Mexico, such as socioeconomic inequalities, fragmentation of the healthcare system, elevated rates of informal employment, the shortage of public investment, and the revocation of social programs, among others.
When the pandemic began (and to this day), many informal workers did not have the “luxury” of social protection, so they had no choice but to report to work in order to support their families in a day-to-day survival mode. The current administration needed to implement adequate strategies to mitigate these dynamics when other Latin American countries did. Instead, it opted for an austerity policy that affected multiple programs that could have helped alleviate the negative impacts.
In addition, budget restrictions, like the decrease in childcare subsidies enforced in 2019, negatively influenced the well-being of numerous women by forcing them to leave their careers to care for their children. In some instances, it even had an effect not only in the work field but also in education. They faced more challenges, resulting in more elevated rates of mental health disorders. Indeed, finding solutions to the growing gap resulting from gender inequality should be a priority on the public agenda.
On the other hand, those people with pre-existing comorbidities suffered a greater impact from the pandemic due to their situation. They had the highest risk of presenting health complications from becoming infected. This generated greater fear and more stress about becoming ill from COVID-19. They were also harmed by interruptions in regular health services caused by the imminent saturation of the healthcare system. And, as for people suffering from pre-existing mental health disorders, they, too, found themselves at a disadvantage due to discontinuity in their treatments.
Finally, health professionals, a sector that would not seem vulnerable, were driven at the beginning of the pandemic by the fear of infecting themselves and their families. They had a greater workload, added to working hours that have historically exceeded 36 hours of continuous work. High rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorders were reported in these workers. The same ones that were already tall. Depression rates in physicians reach up to 79.6% and anxiety rates up to 69.9%, according to data from Lugo-Machado et al.
For the first time in 77 years, a resolution was adopted in this regard.
Juan Ramón de la Fuente
The COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the mental health of the Mexican population, and this effect will continue to persist. Although there is still a long way to go, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN, mentioned in a recent interview with Elena Poniatowska that they managed to “talk about mental health in the UN Security Council, and for the first time in 77 years a resolution was adopted in this regard.” We must highlight the need to implement more social justice strategies that promote equity and protect the most vulnerable sectors of the population. Now we must ask ourselves how to implement effective social justice strategies, especially regarding mental health.
