A psychological health crisis has gripped the world. From growing concern about climate change in rich countries like the US to severe psychological trauma in conflict zones like Ukraine and Gaza (especially among children), psychological problems have become widespread and traditional health care providers are unable to deal with them. to handle. Because of this, tens of millions of people are at risk of serious pathologies and suicide.
Traditionally, a psychiatric patient engages in individual therapy with a trained physician. But even the health care systems of rich countries lack the capacity to offer such services on the scale that is needed; In the US, more than 150 million people live in areas with insufficient numbers of mental health professionals. Within a few years, the country could lack as many as 31,100 psychiatrists.
The situation is even worse in poor and conflict-affected countries, where traditional psychiatric interventions are often very difficult to access, if at all.
An example is my home country Zimbabwe; although the country has a population of 16 million, it employs only 13 board-certified psychiatrists and 20 clinical psychologists.
The consequences of this shortage became clear in 2019 when Cyclone Idai tore through parts of Zimbabwe. The storm’s powerful gusts and downpours – and the resulting massive flooding and landslides – claimed several hundred lives, displaced around 60,000 people and destroyed 50,000 homes. The storm also destroyed unharvested crops, destroyed seed stocks and killed livestock, leaving people without food and livelihoods. All of this contributed to mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
2024-01-22 22:00:00
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