Infographic: How is the Panorama of Latin America in Mental Health Services?

Every October 10, World Mental Health Day is celebrated, a date whose main objective is to remember and raise awareness about the importance of mental health for a fulfilled life. This, from the meaning of the word health, which for the World Health Organization (WHO) is a "state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not just the absence of diseases or illnesses." In that vein, mental health care is just as valid and important as physical health. Even, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), mental health disorders increase the risk of contracting other diseases.

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Since 2020, COVID-19 has been a challenge for mental health due to long quarantines, the drastic change in lifestyles and the instability that a global pandemic implies. Likewise, mental health services have found themselves against the wall adapting very awkwardly, or so we can see it at least in regions like Latin America, where mental health continues to suffer the consequences of stereotypes and where there is still a long way to go.

The governments of the region must begin to pay more attention to these data and must be willing to allocate an important part of health budgets to mental health, since the well-being of the population depends on it.